Ontario

== Etymology ==
Ontario is a term thought to be derived from Indigenous origins, either {{lang|wyn|Ontarí:io}}, a [[Wyandot language|Huron]] ([[Wyandot people|Wyandot]]) word meaning "great lake",<ref name="Mithun2001">{{cite book|author=Marianne Mithun|title=The Languages of Native North America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ALnf3s2m7PkC&q=ontario+%22great+lake%22&pg=PA312|date=June 7, 2001|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-29875-9|page=312|access-date=October 19, 2020|archive-date=January 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122140534/https://books.google.com/books?id=ALnf3s2m7PkC&q=ontario+%22great+lake%22&pg=PA312|url-status=live}}</ref> or possibly {{lang|iro|skanadario}}, which means "beautiful water" or "sparkling water" in the [[Iroquoian languages]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.studycanada.ca/english/about-ont.htm|pages=Last Paragraph–second–last sentence|title=About Canada // Ontario|work=Study Canada|quote=The name "Ontario" is generally thought to be derived from the Iroquois word Skanadario, meaning "beautiful water"|access-date=April 23, 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706204317/http://www.studycanada.ca/english/about-ont.htm|archive-date=July 6, 2011}}</ref> Ontario has about 250,000 freshwater lakes.<ref name=river-number>{{cite web|title=Lakes and Rivers |url=http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/Water/2ColumnSubPage/STEL02_163597.html |work=Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources |access-date=March 23, 2014|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140323134120/http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/Water/2ColumnSubPage/STEL02_163597.html |archive-date=March 23, 2014}}</ref> The first mention of the name Ontario was in 1641, when "Ontario" was used to describe the land on the north shore of the easternmost part of the Great Lakes.<ref name="canada.ca">{{cite web |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/provincial-territorial-symbols-canada/ontario.html#a1 |title=Ontario – Canada.ca |accessdate=November 22, 2021 |publisher=Government of Canada |website=canada.ca |date=August 15, 2017 |archive-date=September 12, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190912201706/https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/provincial-territorial-symbols-canada/ontario.html#a1 |url-status=live }}</ref> It was adopted as the official name of the new province at [[Canadian Confederation|Confederation]] in 1867.<ref name="canada.ca"/>