ISIS stands for “Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.”

Quick meaning

  • The group’s full Arabic name is al-Dawlah al-Islāmiyyah fī al-ʿIrāq wa al-Shām , which literally means “Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham.”
  • “Al‑Sham” can be translated as Syria , Greater Syria , or the Levant , which is why you also see ISIL (“Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant”) used in news and government reports.
  • Today, many outlets just say “Islamic State” (IS) for short, but they are referring to the same extremist militant organization.

So when someone asks “what does ISIS stand for,” they’re asking for the English acronym of that group’s name: Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.