EIN3/EILs (Ethylene inductive proteins/ethylene inductive 3-like) protein family function as the main members of ethylene signal transduction pathway and play an important regulatory role in plant growth and development and stress response. In this study, ZmEIL2 was isolated from maize inbred line B73 based on sequence homology (GeneBank ID: KJ727458.1). This gene carries a 1788 bp coding sequence (CDS) that encodes for 595 amino acid residues with a relative molecular mass of 63.81 kD and a theoretical isoelectric point of 6.34. ZmEIL2 contains an EIN3 domain which is specific to EIN3/EILs family. Phylogenetic tree analysis showed that ZmEIL2 protein had the closest evolutionary relationship with SbEIL1 protein in Sorghum bicolor and was relatively distant from EIL proteins in Arabidopsis and soybean. The subcellular localization assay showed that ZmEIL2 protein was localized to the cell membrane and nucleus. Tissue specific expression analysis showed that ZmEIL2 gene was highly expressed in bract, followed by ear, tassel and silks, and the lowest expression was detected in mature leaves. The transcripts of ZmEIL2 gene were inducible under abiotic stresses treatments such as dehydration, PEG, ABA, high salt, heat and cold, particularly under PEG, ABA or high salt treatments. The expression level of ZmEIL2 gene in leaves was significantly higher than that in stems and roots. These results laid a theoretical foundation for further deciphering the molecular mechanism of ZmEIL2 gene in responses to abiotic stresses.