La paraula ''Minnesota'' prové del [[Idioma dakhota-lakhota|dakota]] per al [[riu Minnesota]], ''Mnisota'' o ''Mnišota''. ''Mni'' (en ocasions ''mini'' o ''minne'') pot traduir-se per '[[aigua]]', i ''sota'' 'lletós, nebulós' (en la variant ''šota'' 'enfangat'). De fet, ''Mnisota'' es pot traduir com a 'aigua tenyida de cel' i ''Mnišota'' per 'aigua enterbolida d'alguna cosa'.<ref>[http://mnplaces.mnhs.org/upham/otheritem.cfm?PlaceNameID=2007&BookCodeID=67&County=0&SendingPage=Results.cfm MNHS Minnesota Place names]</ref><ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=Minnesota Minnesota definition at Dictionary.com]</ref><ref>Matthews, G. Hubert (1955): "Phonemic Analysis of a Dakota Dialect", IJAL, '''21''':56-59.</ref> | La paraula ''Minnesota'' prové del [[Idioma dakhota-lakhota|dakota]] per al [[riu Minnesota]], ''Mnisota'' o ''Mnišota''. ''Mni'' (en ocasions ''mini'' o ''minne'') pot traduir-se per '[[aigua]]', i ''sota'' 'lletós, nebulós' (en la variant ''šota'' 'enfangat'). De fet, ''Mnisota'' es pot traduir com a 'aigua tenyida de cel' i ''Mnišota'' per 'aigua enterbolida d'alguna cosa'.<ref>[http://mnplaces.mnhs.org/upham/otheritem.cfm?PlaceNameID=2007&BookCodeID=67&County=0&SendingPage=Results.cfm MNHS Minnesota Place names]</ref><ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=Minnesota Minnesota definition at Dictionary.com]</ref><ref>Matthews, G. Hubert (1955): "Phonemic Analysis of a Dakota Dialect", IJAL, '''21''':56-59.</ref> |