Iowa

UK: /ˈaɪəʊə/ US: (ī′ə wə; sometimes ī′ə wā′)

Inflections of 'Iowa' (n):

Iowas

npl (For people)

Iowa

npl (Can be used as a collective plural for people—e.g. "Iowa have lived on this land for hundreds of years.")

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

I•o•wa  (ī′ə wə; sometimes ī′ə wā′), n., pl. -was, (esp. collectively) -wa for 3.

1. Place Names a state in the central United States: a part of the Midwest. 2,913,387;
   56,290 sq. mi. (145,790 sq. km). Cap.: Des Moines. Abbr.: IA (approved esp. for use with zip code), Ia., Io.
2. Place Names a river flowing SE from N Iowa to the Mississippi River. 291 mi. (470 km) long.
3. Language Varieties a member of an American Indian people originally of Iowa, Missouri, and Minnesota but now of Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Kansas.
4. Language Varieties the Siouan language spoken by the Iowa Indians.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

Iowa / ˈaɪəʊə/ noun

1. a state of the N central US, in the Midwest: consists of rolling plains crossed by many rivers, with the Missouri forming the western border and the Mississippi the eastern. Capital: Des Moines. Pop: 2 944 062 (2003 est). Area: 144 887 sq km (55 941 sq miles)
   Abbreviation: Ia., (with zip code) IA