island
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is·land
(ī′lənd)n.
1. Abbr. Isl. or Is. or I. A landmass, especially one smaller than a continent, entirely surrounded by water.
2. Something resembling an island, especially in being isolated or surrounded, as:
a. An unattached kitchen counter providing easy access from all sides.
b. A raised curbed area, often used to delineate rows of parking spaces or lanes of traffic.
c. The superstructure of a ship, especially an aircraft carrier.
3. Anatomy A cluster of cells differing in structure or function from the cells constituting the surrounding tissue.
tr.v. is·land·ed, is·land·ing, is·lands
To make into or as if into an island; insulate: a secluded mansion, islanded by shrubbery and fences.
[Alteration (influenced by isle) of Middle English ilond, from Old English īegland : īg, īeg; see akw-ā- in Indo-European roots + land, land; see lendh- in Indo-European roots.]
Word History: It may seem hard to believe, but Latin aqua, "water," is related to island, which originally meant "watery land." Aqua comes almost unchanged from Indo-European *akwā-, "water." *Akwā- became *ahwō- in Germanic by Grimm's Law and other sound changes. To this was built the adjective *ahwjō-, "watery." This then became *awwjō- or *auwi-, which in pre-English became *ēaj-, and finally ēg or īeg in Old English. Island, spelled iland, first appears in Old English in King Alfred's translation of Boethius about ad 888; the spellings igland and ealond appear in contemporary documents. The s in island is due to a mistaken etymology, confusing the etymologically correct English iland with French isle. Isle comes ultimately from Latin īnsula "island," a component of paenīnsula, "almost-island," whence our peninsula.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
island
(ˈaɪlənd)n
1. (Physical Geography) a mass of land that is surrounded by water and is smaller than a continent
2. (Civil Engineering) See traffic island
3. (Anatomy) anatomy a part, structure, or group of cells distinct in constitution from its immediate surroundings.
vb (tr)
4. to cause to become an island
5. to intersperse with islands
6. to place on an island; insulate; isolate
[Old English īgland, from īg island + land; s inserted through influence of isle]
ˈisland-ˌlike adj
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
is•land
(ˈaɪ lənd)n.
1. a tract of land completely surrounded by water and not large enough to be called a continent.
2. something resembling an island, esp. in being isolated.
3. a freestanding unit with a counter or work surface on top, situated in the middle area of a room so as to permit access from all sides.
4. a clump of woodland in a prairie.
5. an isolated hill.
6. an isolated portion of anatomical tissue differing in structure from the surrounding tissue.
v.t. 7. to make into an island.
8. to dot with islands.
9. to place on an island; isolate.
[before 900; Middle English iland, Old English īgland, īland]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
island
Past participle: islanded
Gerund: islanding
| Imperative |
|---|
| island |
| island |
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
island
A piece of land completely surrounded by a river, lake, sea, or ocean.
Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group Copyright © 2008 by Diagram Visual Information Limited
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Switch to new thesaurus
| Noun | 1. |  island - a land mass (smaller than a continent) that is surrounded by waterCaribbean Island - an island in the Caribbean Sea Aegean island - an island in the Aegean Sea archipelago - a group of many islands in a large body of water barrier island - a long narrow sandy island (wider than a reef) running parallel to the shore dry land, ground, solid ground, terra firma, earth, land - the solid part of the earth's surface; "the plane turned away from the sea and moved back over land"; "the earth shook for several minutes"; "he dropped the logs on the ground" South Sea Islands - any islands in the southern or southwestern of central parts of the Pacific Ocean |
| 2. | island - a zone or area resembling an island kitchen island - an unattached counter in a kitchen that permits access from all sides safety island, safety isle, safety zone, traffic island - a curbed area in a roadway from which traffic is excluded; provides safe area for pedestrians zone - a locally circumscribed place characterized by some distinctive features |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
island
noun isle, inch (Scot. & Irish), atoll, holm (dialect), islet, ait or eyot (dialect), cay or key a day trip to the island of Gozo
Related words
adjective insular
adjective insular
Islands and island groups
Achill, Admiralty, Aegean, Aegina, Alcatraz, Aldabra, Alderney, Aleutian, Alexander, Amboina, Andaman, Andaman and Nicobar, Andreanof, Andros, Anglesey, Anguilla, Anticosti, Antigua, Antilles, Antipodes, Aran, Arran, Aru or Arru, Aruba, Ascension, Auckland, Azores, Baffin, Bahamas, Balearic, Bali, Banaba, Bangka, Banks, Baranof, Barbados, Barbuda, Bardsey, Barra, Basilan, Basse-Terre, Batan, Belau, Belle, Benbecula, Bermuda, Biak, Billiton, Bioko, Bohol, Bonaire, Bonin, Bora Bora, Borneo, Bornholm, Bougainville, British, Bute, Butung, Caicos, Caldy, Calf of Man, Campobello, Canary, Canna, Canvey, Cape Breton, Capri, Caroline, Cayman, Cebú, Ceylon, Channel, Chatham, Cheju, Chichagof, Chiloé, Chios, Choiseul, Christmas, Cocos, Coll, Colonsay, Coney, Cook, Corfu, Corregidor, Corsica, Crete, Cuba, Curaçao, Cyclades, Cyprus, Cythera, Delos, D'Entrecasteaux, Diomede, Disko, Diu, Djerba or Jerba, Dodecanese, Dominica, Dry Tortugas, Easter, Eigg, Elba, Ellesmere, Espíritu Santo, Euboea, Faeroes, Faial or Fayal, Fair, Falkland, Falster, Farquhar, Fernando de Noronha, Fiji, Flannan, Flinders, Flores, Florida Keys, Foula, Foulness, Franz Josef Land, French West Indies, Frisian, Fyn, Galápagos, Gambier, Gigha, Gilbert, Gotland, Gothland, or Gottland, Grand Bahama, Grand Canary, Grande-Terre, Grand Manan, Greater Antilles, Greater Sunda, Greenland, Grenada, Grenadines, Guadalcanal, Guam, Guernsey, Hainan or Hainan Tao, Handa, Hawaii, Hayling, Heard and McDonald, Hebrides, Heimaey, Heligoland, Herm, Hispaniola, Hokkaido, Holy, Hong Kong, Honshu, Hormuz or Ormuz, Howland, Ibiza, Icaria, Iceland, Imbros, Iona, Ionian, Ireland, Ischia, Islay, Isle Royale, Ithaca, Iwo Jima, Jamaica, Jan Mayen, Java, Jersey, Jolo, Juan Fernández, Jura, Kangaroo, Kauai, Keos, Kerrera, Kiritimati, Kodiak, Kos or Cos, Kosrae, Krakatoa or Krakatau, Kuril or Kurile, Kyushu or Kiushu, La Palma, Labuan, Lakshadweep, Lampedusa, Lanai, Lavongai, Leeward, Lemnos, Lesbos, Lesser Antilles, Levkás, Leukas, or Leucas, Lewis with Harris or Lewis and Harris, Leyte, Liberty, Lindisfarne, Line, Lipari, Lismore, Lolland or Laaland, Lombok, Long, Longa, Lord Howe, Luing, Lundy, Luzon, Mackinac, Macquarie, Madagascar, Madeira, Madura, Maewo, Mahé, Mainland, Majorca, Maldives, Malé, Malta, Man, Manhattan, Manitoulin, Marajó, Margarita, Marie Galante, Marinduque, Marquesas, Marshall, Martinique, Masbate, Mascarene, Matsu or Mazu, Maui, Mauritius, May, Mayotte, Melanesia, Melos, Melville, Mersea, Micronesia, Mindanao, Mindoro, Minorca, Miquelon, Molokai, Moluccas, Montserrat, Mount Desert, Muck, Mull, Mykonos, Nantucket, Nauru, Naxos, Negros, Netherlands Antilles, Nevis, New Britain, New Caledonia, Newfoundland, New Georgia, New Guinea, New Ireland, New Providence, New Siberian, Nicobar, Niue, Norfolk, North, North Uist, Nusa Tenggara, Oahu, Oceania, Okinawa, Orkneys or Orkney, Palawan, Palmyra, Panay, Pantelleria, Páros, Patmos, Pelagian, Pemba, Penang, Pescadores, Philae, Philippines, Phoenix, Pitcairn, Polynesia, Ponape, Pribilof, Prince Edward, Prince of Wales, Principe, Qeshm or Qishm, Queen Charlotte, Queen Elizabeth, Quemoy, Raasay, Ramsey, Rarotonga, Rathlin, Réunion, Rhodes, Rhum, Rialto, Roanoke, Robben, Rockall, Rona, Ross, Ryukyu, Saba, Safety, Saipan, Sakhalin, Salamis, Saltee, Samar, Samoa, Samos, Samothrace, San Cristóbal, San Juan, San Salvador, Santa Catalina, Sao Miguel, Sao Tomé, Sardinia, Sark, Savaii, Scalpay, Schouten, Scilly, Sea, Seil, Seram or Ceram, Seychelles, Sheppey, Shetland, Sicily, Singapore, Sjælland, Skikoku, Skokholm, Skomer, Skye, Skyros or Scyros, Society, Socotra, South, Southampton, South Georgia, South Orkney, South Shetland, South Uist, Spitsbergen, Sporades, Sri Lanka, St. Croix, St. Helena, St. John, St. Kilda, St. Kitts or St. Christopher, St. Lucia, St. Martin, St. Tudwal's, St. Vincent, Staffa, Staten, Stewart, Stroma, Stromboli, Sulawesi, Sumatra, Sumba or Soemba, Sumbawa or Soembawa, Summer, Sunda or Soenda, Tahiti, Taiwan, Tasmania, Tenedos, Tenerife, Terceira, Thanet, Thásos, Thera, Thousand, Thursday, Timor, Tiree, Tobago, Tokelau, Tombo, Tonga, Tortola, Tortuga, Trinidad, Tristan da Cunha, Trobriand, Truk, Tsushima, Tuamotu, Tubuai, Turks, Tutuila, Tuvalu, Ulva, Unimak, Upolu, Ushant, Vancouver, Vanua Levu, Vanuatu, Vestmannaeyjar, Victoria, Virgin, Visayan, Viti Levu, Volcano, Walcheren, Walney, West Indies, Western, Wight, Windward, Wrangel, Yap, Youth, Zante, ZanzibarCollins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
Translations
جَزِيرَةٌجَزيرَة سَيْرجَزيرَه
остров
illa
ostrovrefýž
øtrafikø
insulo
ohutussaarsaar
saarisaareke
द्वीप
otok
sziget
nusapulau
eyjaumferîareyjaey
島
섬
insula
salasalos gyventojassaugumo salelė
saladrošības saliņa
eilandenclave
insulă
cestný ostrovostrov
otok
öskärholmekobbe
kisiwa
เกาะ
adaorta kaldırımröfüj
острів
đảo
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
island
n (lit, fig) → Insel f
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
island
(ˈailənd) noun1. a piece of land surrounded by water. The island lay a mile off the coast.
2. (also traffic island) a traffic-free area, built in the middle of a street, for pedestrians to stand on.
ˈislander nounKernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
island
→ جَزِيرَةٌ ostrov ø Insel νησί isla saari île otok isola 島 섬 eiland øy wyspa ilha остров ö เกาะ ada đảo 岛屿Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009
is·land
n. isla, nombre dado a un grupo celular o a un tejido aislado.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012