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The words island and isle are etymologically distinct. Island can be traced back to Old English īgland, composed of two elements īg and land. Land, as we might expect means “land,” but īg means “island” in Old English. In a sense, then, īgland is “island-land.” The English isle, on the other hand, is derived through medieval French from the Latin insula. In the 16th century, under the influence of isle, the letter s was added to iland, the earlier form of island. The verb island did not appear until the 17th century.
Synonyms
Examples of island in a Sentence
Tucker Reals, CBS News, 29 Nov. 2023
In June 2016, Rodrigo Duterte, the former mayor of Davao City, on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, easily defeated four other candidates in the country’s presidential election.
—Joshua Hammer, The Atlantic, 29 Nov. 2023
The story unfolds as Cora, the daughter of King Momo, introduces the concept of a traditional North American Christmas to the island, only to witness the revellers transforming it into a unique Tropical Christmas.
—Callum McLennan, Variety, 29 Nov. 2023
That marks a reversal from years past, when the island had lower or similar death rates compared with the United States as a whole.
—Zoeann Murphy, Washington Post, 28 Nov. 2023
While Diana’s gravesite, which is located on an island within the Round Oval Lake.
—Janine Henni, Peoplemag, 28 Nov. 2023
The island comes alive with the rhythmic sounds and vibrant energy of genres like bouyon, konpa, soca, cadence-lypso, dancehall, and afro beats during the annual festival, which usually features up to 15 major music acts selected by public vote across three days of live performances.
—Melissa Noel, Essence, 28 Nov. 2023
Travelers will also not need to pay the fee to visit the area’s smaller islands like Murano, known for its glass, Reuters noted.
—Alison Fox, Travel + Leisure, 27 Nov. 2023
Tokyo and Beijing have long feuded over ownership of unpopulated East China Sea islands and underwater mineral deposits.
—Christopher Bodeen, Fortune, 16 Nov. 2023
Elizabeth Rhodes, Travel + Leisure, 14 Feb. 2023
Customize it to display the lake or island their choice and watch them fall in love with hosting all over again.
—Ni'kesia Pannell, Woman's Day, 14 Sep. 2022
The result has been a reduction in costs and greenhouse gas emissions with the renewable energy of solar and combined heat and power, as well as having a plan in place to island off the traditional power grid in case of any future outages.
—Luis D’acosta, Forbes, 24 June 2022
Want to island hop around French Polynesia, visit Africa's incredible cities, and cruise through Asia without ever switching hotels, boarding a flight, or repacking your bags?
—Elizabeth Rhodes, Travel + Leisure, 3 Jan. 2022
The episode centres around John B.’s (Chase Stokes) flight from his Outer Banks island hometown after he is framed for the murder of Sheriff Peterkin (Adina Porter).
—Ariana Romero, refinery29.com, 20 Apr. 2020
While sending children to work in factories isn’t good for them, either, holding up the postwar era as ideal may limit the ability to address the harms that stem from islanding.
—Miranda Sachs, Twin Cities, 30 Sep. 2019
For the last few years, Guerra has been studying the eating habits of western gulls that nest on Anacapa and Santa Barbara islands in the Channel Islands archipelago.
—Deborah Netburn, Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2019
However, islanding children often reinforces gender, class or racial divides.
—Miranda Sachs, Twin Cities, 30 Sep. 2019
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'island.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Noun
alteration (influenced by Anglo-French isle) of earlier iland, from Middle English, from Old English īgland (akin to Old Norse eyland), from īg island (akin to Old English ēa river, Latin aqua water) + land land
Noun
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Verb
1661, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Phrases Containing island
Dictionary Entries Near island
Cite this Entry
“Island.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/island. Accessed 5 Dec. 2023.
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Kids Definition
island
nounNoun
an altered form of earlier iland "island," derived from Old English īgland "island"; the spelling island was influenced by the word isle, which is not related
Medical Definition
island
noun
More from Merriam-Webster on island
Nglish: Translation of island for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of island for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about island
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