The story
From the group's Arabic-language name, الدَّوْلَة الْإِسْلَامِيَّة (ad-dawla l-ʔislāmiyya, literally “the Islamic State”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Islamic State
Today it means: A Salafist group active in Libya, Nigeria, Iraq and Syria, where it has proclaimed an (unrecognized) state. Full definition →