island.
A contiguous area of land, smaller than a continent, totally surrounded by water.
Meaning & usage
A contiguous area of land, smaller than a continent, totally surrounded by water.
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.
The quiet library was an island of tranquility in the noisy, bustling city.
an island of colors on a butterfly's wing
A superstructure on an aircraft carrier's deck.
A traffic island.
the island in the middle of a roundabout
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.
A bench, counter, etc., that is not connected to a wall or other furniture and which can be used from any side. Ellipsis of kitchen island.
An unincorporated area wholly surrounded by one or more incorporated areas.
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".
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ékʷeh₂ Proto-Germanic *awjō Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- Proto-Indo-European *-om Proto-Germanic *landą Proto-Germanic *awjōlandą Proto-West Germanic *auwjuland Old English īeġland Middle English ilond English iland English island 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.
To surround with water; make into an island.
To set, dot (as if) with islands.
the many-islanded Aegean
To isolate.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ékʷeh₂ Proto-Germanic *awjō Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- Proto-Indo-European *-om Proto-Germanic *landą Proto-Germanic *awjōlandą Proto-West Germanic *auwjuland Old English īeġland Middle English ilond English iland English island 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.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.