Skip to main content
Rhode Islander

Rhode Islander

1 2.6
A person born in or living in the US state of Rhode Island
  • noun
  • /ˈroʊd ˈaɪləndər/
: rhodeislandés
  • You have my commitment that I will continue fighting to protect the interests of all Rhode Islanders every day that I am Governor.

Examples

  • This is exactly what government is supposed to do: build infrastructure that all Rhode Islanders pay for so that all Rhode Islanders can benefit.

    Blog text (30)
  • Just ask a true Rhode Islander for directions.

    Blog text (27)
  • Many Rhode Islanders have been impacted by the weather conditions.

    Blog text (31)
  • I know that the majority of Rhode Islanders do not take this attitude, but unfortunately, sometimes in a crisis, there are those who seek to take advantage of the situation.

    Blog text (31)
  • The new government had better things to do than educate itself about the different needs of Rhode Islanders and New Yorkers.

    Academic text (2002)
  • Rhode Islanders' attempt to establish the first green state is only one of several state initiatives underway.

    Academic text (1990)
  • Be that as it may, the stakes in the pension suit are extremely high: paying the full tab for the old system, if the courts bring it back, will cost Rhode Islanders about $300 million more this year alone.

    Blog text (4)
  • Rhode Islanders use about 150 million gallons of freshwater per day, four-fifths of which is from public supplies.

    Academic text (1990)
  • To many Rhode Islanders, the availability of the quahaug, the state shellfish, symbolizes the quality of the bay's waters.

    Academic text (1990)
  • Many Rhode Islanders enjoy celebrating their state's unique culture during the annual festival.

Surface Forms

Morphology

Rhode + islander

This is a straightforward demonymal composition: the proper-name place element (Rhode Island) combined with 'islander' (someone who resides on an island) yields 'a person from Rhode Island'. The formation follows a regular, cross-linguistically common pattern, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would be able to infer the meaning.

Etymology

Rhode Islander is the place name Rhode Island plus the ending -er that means a person from somewhere. So a Rhode Islander is 'a person who was born in or lives in Rhode Island'.