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Origin and history of eyot

eyot(n.)

"small island," from Middle English eyt, from Old English iggað "small island," diminutive of eg, ig, ieg "island" (see island). Ending influenced by French diminutive suffix -ot.

Entries linking to eyot

island(n.)

1590s, earlier yland (c. 1300), from Old English igland, iegland "an island," from ieg "island" (from Proto-Germanic *awjo "thing on the water," from PIE root *akwa- "water") + land (n.).

The spelling of the first syllable was modified from 16c. by association with similar but unrelated isle. The second syllable was added to distinguish it from homonyms, especially Old English ea "water" (see ea). Similar formation are in Old Frisian eiland, Middle Dutch eyland, German Eiland, Danish öland, etc.

In place names, Old English ieg is often used of "slightly raised dry ground offering settlement sites in areas surrounded by marsh or subject to flooding" [Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names], as probably in Isle of Ely. Old English had ealand "river-land, watered place, meadow by a river."

As an adjective from 1620s. Island universe "solar system" (1846) translates German Weltinsel (von Humboldt, 1845). Related: Islander.

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    Trends of eyot

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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