island

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See also Island, Ísland, and Island'

Contents

English [edit]

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An island.

Alternative forms [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From earlier iland, from Middle English iland, yland, ylond, from Old English īġland, īeġland, ēaland (“island”), from Old English īeġ (“island”) (from Proto-Germanic *awiz, *awjō (“island, water, waterland, meadow”), from Proto-Indo-European *akw- (“water”)) + land (“land”), equivalent to ea +‎ land. Cognate with Scots iland, yland (“island”), West Frisian eilân (“island”), Saterland Frisian Ailound (“island”), Dutch eiland (“island”), Low German Eiland (“island”), German Eiland (“island”), Danish øland (“island”), Icelandic eyland (“island”). The erroneous insertion of s—a late (16th century) spelling modification—is due to unrelated term isle. Related also to German Aue (“water-meadow”), Latin aqua (“water”). More at ea.

Pronunciation [edit]

Noun [edit]

island (plural islands)

  1. A contiguous area of land, smaller than a continent, totally surrounded by water.
    • 2002, Gordon L. Rottman, World War 2 Pacific island guide
      Sumatra is the second largest island in the East Indies and the fourth largest in the world covering 182,859 square miles.
  2. An entity surrounded by other entities that are very different from itself.
    an island of tranquility (a calm place surrounded by a noisy environment)
    • 1939, Deseret News, October 27 1939, Roosevelt Reaffirms American Neutrality
      King Leopold, speaking in fluent English during his six minute broadcast, said Belgium stood side by side with Holland "an Island of peace in the interests of all"
  3. A superstructure on an aircraft carrier's deck
  4. (UK) A traffic island.
    the island in the middle of a roundabout

Synonyms [edit]

  • (land surrounded by water): ait, holm
  • (an entity surrounded by other very different entities): oasis

Derived terms [edit]

terms derived from island (noun)

Related terms [edit]

Translations [edit]

area of land completely surrounded by water
entity surrounded by other entities that are very different from itself
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

Verb [edit]

island (third-person singular simple present islands, present participle islanding, simple past and past participle islanded)

  1. (transitive) To surround with water; make into an island
    • 1933, Harriet Monroe, Poetry: Volume 42
      We paused at little river cities along the way and walked upon their bushy dikes, and heard tales of overflows in flood seasons, when four feet or more of water islanded the houses.
  2. (transitive) To set, dot (as if) with islands
  3. (transitive) To isolate

Synonyms [edit]

Translations [edit]

make into an island
set, dot (as if) with islands
isolate

See also [edit]

Statistics [edit]

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