island
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Alternative forms
Etymology
From earlier iland, from Middle English iland, yland, ylond, from Old English īeġland, from Proto-West Germanic *auwjuland, from Proto-Germanic *awjōlandą (from Proto-Germanic *awjō (“island, waterland, meadow”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ekʷeh₂) + *landą (“land”), equivalent to ey + land.
Doublet of Öland. Cognate with Scots island, iland, yland (“island”), West Frisian eilân (“island”), Saterland Frisian Ailound (“island”), Dutch eiland (“island”), Low German Eiland (“island”), German Eiland (“island”), Swedish ö (“island”), Öland (“Sweden's second largest island”), Danish ø (“island”), Norwegian øy (“island”), øyland (“large island”), Icelandic eyland (“island”).
The insertion of ⟨s⟩—a 16th century spelling modification—is due to a change in spelling to the unrelated term isle, which previously lacked s (cf. Middle English ile, yle). The re-addition was mistakenly carried over to include iland as well. Related also to German Aue (“water-meadow”), Latin aqua (“water”). More at ea.
Pronunciation
Noun
island (plural islands)
- A contiguous area of land, smaller than a continent, totally surrounded by water.
- 1624, John Donne, “17. Meditation”, in Deuotions upon Emergent Occasions, and Seuerall Steps in My Sicknes: […], London: Printed by A[ugustine] M[atthews] for Thomas Iones, →OCLC; republished as Geoffrey Keynes, edited by John Sparrow, Devotions upon Emergent Occasions: […], Cambridge: At the University Press, 1923, →OCLC, page 98, lines 2–3:
- No man is an Iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; […]
- 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.
- (by extension, in place names) A contiguous area of land, smaller than a continent, partially surrounded by water; A peninsula; A half-island.
- Despite its name, Barry Island is actually a peninsula
- An entity surrounded by other entities that are very different from itself.
- an island of tranquility(a calm place surrounded by a noisy environment)
- an island of colors on a butterfly's wing
- 2018 April 10, Daniel Taylor, “Liverpool go through after Mohamed Salah stops Manchester City fightback”, in The Guardian (London):
- He was on the ball in a flash, swerving to the left of City’s goalkeeper, Ederson, before shaping his body for a tricky angled finish. He was an island of composure, floating in his 39th goal of the season with a delicate chip into the corner.
- 1939 October 27, Deseret News, 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"
- A superstructure on an aircraft carrier's deck.
- A traffic island.
- the island in the middle of a roundabout
- (by extension, West Midlands) A roundabout; a traffic circle.
- Dunton island, near Birmingham, is one of the most confusingly labelled islands in the U.K.
- In Coventry, you will often hear people say: “Turn right at the island”.
- A bench, counter, etc., that is not connected to a wall or other furniture and which can be used from any side.
- 1936, F.J. Thwaites, chapter XXII, in The Redemption, Sydney: H. John Edwards, published 1940, page 216:
- A short, rather studious young woman on noticing him moved from behind an island counter.
- (government) An unincorporated area wholly surrounded by one or more incorporated areas.
- (grammar) A phrase from which a wh-word cannot be extracted without yielding invalid grammar.
- Adverbial subordinate clauses are islands for extraction: "They have a billion dollars of inventory that they don't know where *(it) is".
Synonyms
Derived terms
- Aaland Islands
- ABC Islands
- Absecon Island
- Admiralty Islands
- Aegadian Islands
- Aegean Islands
- Aeolian Islands
- Åland Islands
- Aleutian Islands
- Aleutic Islands
- Aleut Islands
- Alexander I Island
- Alexander Island
- Amindivi Islands
- Amirante Islands
- Andaman and Nicobar Islands
- Andaman Islands
- Andreanof Islands
- Apostle Islands
- Aru Islands
- Auckland Islands merganser
- Aurora Islands
- Austral Island
- Austral Islands
- Axel Heiberg Island
- Babar Islands
- Babuyan Islands
- Balearic Islands
- Banda Islands
- Bangka Belitung Islands
- Banks Island
- Banks Islands
- Bardsey Island
- barrier island
- Barry Island
- Bay of Islands
- Bear Island
- Beef Island
- Bell Island
- BES Islands
- Block Island Sound
- Blue Island
- Bonfire Island
- Booby Island
- Borromean Islands
- British Virgin Islands
- Buck Island
- Burnt Islands
- Caille Island
- Caledonia Island
- Calivigny Island
- Canary Islands
- Canvey Island
- Cape Clear Island
- Cape Cod and the Islands
- Capella Island
- Carerra Island
- Caroline Islands
- Carrera Island
- Catholic Island
- Cayman Islands
- center island
- Change Islands
- Channel Island
- Channel Island English
- Channel Islands
- Channel Islands Beach
- Chatham Islands
- Chatham Islands penguin
- Coalisland
- Cockroach Island
- Cocos Islands
- Cocos (Keeling) Islands
- Commander Islands
- Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
- Comoro Islands
- Coney Island
- coney island
- Cook Islands
- Cook Islands Maori
- Cooper Island
- coral island
- Coronation Island
- Craig Island
- Cronstadt Island
- Culpepper Island
- Danger Island
- Daniel Island
- Dead Chest Island
- Deer Island
- Desertas Islands
- desert island
- Desolation Islands
- Devil's Island
- dialect island
- Diamond Island
- Diaoyu Islands
- Diaoyutai Islands
- Dinagat Islands
- Diomede Islands
- Discovery Islands
- Disko Island
- Dog Island
- Dog Islands
- Dorval Island
- Duff Islands
- Duke of Norfolk's Island
- Duke of York Islands
- Duke of York's Island
- East Seal Dog Island
- Elizabeth Islands
- Eustatia Island
- Faeroe Islands
- Falkland Island
- Falkland Islands
- Falkland Islands English
- Falkland Islands wolf
- Fallen Jerusalem Island
- Family Islands
- Fanning Island
- Farne Islands
- Faroe Islands
- Fergusson Island striped possum
- first island chain
- Five Islands
- Flanagan Island
- floating island
- French Island
- Friendly Islands
- Frigate Island
- Frisian Islands
- Galapagos Islands
- Galápagos Islands
- Gambier Islands
- Garbage Island
- Gasparillo Island
- George Dog Island
- ghost island
- Gilbert and Ellice Islands
- Gilbert Islands
- Gilford Island
- Ginger Island
- Glover Island
- Goat Island
- Gosper island
- Gough Island
- Grand Island
- Grand Turk Island
- Great Barrier Island
- Great Bird Island
- Great Dog Island
- Greater Sunda Islands
- Great Island
- Green Island
- Guana Island
- Guiana Island
- half-island
- Hanish Islands
- Hans Lollik Island
- Harp Island
- Hassel Island
- Haulbowline Island
- Hawaiian Islands
- Hawai'i Island
- Hawaii Island
- Hayling Island
- Heard Island and McDonald Islands
- heat island
- Heiberg Islands
- high island
- High Island
- Highlands and Islands
- hog island
- Holy Island
- Hong Kong Island
- interisland
- intraisland
- Ionian Islands
- Island
- island arc
- Islandbridge
- Island Carib
- island chain
- Island County
- island dispenser
- island display
- island dressing
- island dwarf
- island dwarfism
- islander
- island fox
- islandful
- island gray fox
- islandhood
- island-hop
- islandic
- islandish
- islandless
- islandlike
- islandly
- island maze
- islandness
- island of automation
- Island of Hawai'i
- Island of Hawaii
- island of inversion
- island of Ireland
- Island of Pearls
- island of Reil
- island of stability
- Island of the Blest
- islandology
- islandophile
- island platform
- island position
- island rule
- island silicate
- island site
- Islands of Hawaii
- Islands of the Blessed
- Islands of the North Atlantic
- island state
- island syndrome
- island tameness
- island tarweed
- island time
- island universe
- islandwide
- islandy
- James Island
- Juan Fernández Islands
- Juan Fernandez Islands
- Kangaroo Island
- Keeling Islands
- Kerguelen Islands
- Kermadec Islands
- King Charles's Island
- Kingsmill Islands
- kitchen island
- Kodiak Island
- Kurile Islands
- Kuril Islands
- Laccadive Islands
- Lamma Island
- language island
- Lantau Island
- Leduck Island
- Leeward Islands
- Lenagan Island
- Lesser Sunda Islands
- Line Islands
- Lipari Islands
- Little Hans Lollik Island
- Little Island
- Little Scrub Island
- Little Seal Dog Island
- Long Island
- Long Island Sound
- Los Islands
- Low Island
- low island
- Loyalty Islands
- Magnetic Island
- Maiden Island
- Maltese Islands
- Maluku Islands
- Manitoulin Island
- Manuae Island
- Mariana Islands
- Marquesas Islands
- Marshall Islands
- Mascarene Islands
- Merritt Island
- Mersea Island
- microisland
- Midway Islands
- Molucca Islands
- Moluccan Islands
- Mombasa Island
- monkey island
- Moore's Island
- Mosquito Island
- Mud Pie Island
- Mustang Island
- nanoisland
- Navigator Islands
- Necker Island
- Nelson Island
- New Siberian Islands
- Nicobar Islands
- no man is an island
- Norfolk Island
- Normal Island
- Norman Island
- Northern Mariana Islands
- North Frisian Islands
- North Island
- North Island kokako
- Northwestern Hawaiian Islands
- Nuns' Island
- Ocean Island
- October Revolution Island
- Old Jerusalem Island
- Orkney Islands
- Out Islands
- Pacific Islands
- paleoisland
- Palm Island
- Paracel Islands
- Passage Islands
- pawn island
- pedestrian island
- Pelagian Islands
- Pelican Island
- Peter Island
- phantom island
- Philippine Islands
- Phillip Island
- Phi Phi Islands
- Phoenix Islands
- Pigeon Island
- Pitcairn Islands
- Pleasant Island
- Pontine Islands
- porkchop island
- pork-chop island
- pork chop island
- Port Royal Island
- Pribilof Islands
- Prickly Pear Island
- Puerto Rican Virgin Islands
- Puget Island
- Queen Charlotte Islands
- Queen Elizabeth Islands
- Rabbit Island
- Raeffsky Islands
- Rat Islands
- Red Rock Island
- refuge island
- Republic of the Marshall Islands
- Restoration Island
- Rhode Island
- Riau Islands
- Roanoke Island
- Rock Island
- Rottnest Island pine
- Ruth Island
- Saba Island
- Sable Island
- safety island
- Saint Giles Island
- Saint Lawrence Island shrew
- Salt Island
- Sandwich Islands
- Sandy Island
- San Juan Islands
- San Salvador Island
- Santa Catalina Island
- Santa Cruz Islands
- Saronic Islands
- Savage Islands
- Savana Island
- Schouten Islands
- Scilly Islands
- Scolt Head Island
- Scrub Island
- sea-island
- Sea Islands
- Seal Island
- second island chain
- security island
- Senkaku Islands
- Seven Islands
- Shark Island
- Shepherd Islands
- Shetland Islands
- Shitland Islands
- Shumagin Islands
- sky island
- Snake Island
- Society Islands
- Solomon Islands
- Somers Islands
- South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
- South Island
- South Orkney Islands
- South Sandwich Islands
- South Sea Islands
- South Shetland Islands
- Spanish Virgin Islands
- Spice Islands
- Spratly Island
- Spratly Islands
- Star Island
- Stewart Island
- St. Lawrence Island
- Sugar Island
- Sugar Loaf Island
- Sunda Islands
- Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands
- Taiping Island
- Tanimbar Islands
- The Island
- third island chain
- Thitu Island
- Thousand Islands
- Three Kings Islands
- Three Mile Island
- tidal island
- tied island
- Tiwi Islands
- Tokelau Islands
- Toronto Islands
- Torres Strait Islands
- Tortoise Islands
- Tory Island
- traffic island
- Traversay Islands
- Treasury Island
- Treasury Islands
- Trobriand Islands
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- Turtle Island
- Turtle Islands
- Union Island
- Union Islands
- United States of the Ionian Islands
- United States Virgin Islands
- Uotsuri Island
- US Virgin Islands
- U.S. Virgin Islands
- U. S. Virgin Islands
- Valentia Island
- Vancouver Island
- Verde Island
- Virgin Islands
- Volcano Islands
- Vulcanian Islands
- Waiheke Island
- Wake Island
- Wake's Island
- Wallasea Island
- Wallops Island
- Washington Island
- Water Island
- West Dog Island
- West Frisian Islands
- Westman Islands
- Whidbey Island
- wh-island
- White Island
- Wilson Islands
- Windmill Islands
- Windward Islands
- Wood Islands
- Woody Island
- World Island
- world island
- Wrangel Island
- Xmas Island
- York Island
- Young Island
Related terms
Translations
area of land completely surrounded by water
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entity surrounded by other entities that are very different from itself
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Verb
island (third-person singular simple present islands, present participle islanding, simple past and past participle islanded)
- (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.
- 1956, Anthony Burgess, Time for a Tiger (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 138:
- The car soon seemed islanded in water.
- (transitive) To set, dot (as if) with islands.
- 1842, T. H. Chivers, “The Song of Seralim: A Celestial Melologue”, in Magnolia; Or Southern Appalachian, volume II, number 1, page 52:
- God dwells in light! Before the ocean of unmeasured space, was islanded with stars serenely bright, reflecting back the radiance of his face - he dwelt above in heaven’s immortal bliss, thinking into existence that which is.
- 1915, Edward Hutton, Naples and Southern Italy, page 22:
- This Apulia is a land of vast pastures and cornfields and olive gardens, islanded with many rich cities, notable if only for the splendour of their churches, […]
- 1930, Rupert Hughes, Ladies’ Man, page 143:
- She knew that the town was islanded with many waters - the Hudson, the Harlem and the East rivers, and the Bay - but the rivers were hard to find in the universal velvetiness.
- (transitive) To isolate.
- 1865, [Adeline Dutton Train Whitney], “The Secret at the Hartshornes”, in The Gayworthys: A Story of Threads and Thrums. […], Boston, Mass.: [A. K.] Loring, […], →OCLC, page 49:
- The turkey's nest was islanded with a fragrant swath,—the "heft" of the crop noted and rejoiced over,—the tons of good timothy and clover calculated,— […]
- 1896, A[lfred] E[dward] Housman, “[Poem] XXVII”, in A Shropshire Lad, New York, N.Y.: John Lane Company, The Bodley Head, published 1906, →OCLC:
- High the vanes of Shrewsbury gleam / Islanded in Severn stream.
Synonyms
Translations
make into an island
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set, dot (as if) with islands
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isolate
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See also
Anagrams
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Old English īġland.
Pronunciation
Noun
island (plural islands)
- An island.
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