isle

1 of 2

noun

plural isles
: island
Pacific isles
Steering with due course toward the isle of Rhodes …William Shakespeare
especially : a small island : islet
I once lived on the … island of Antiparos, a tiny isle behind Paros. Emily Prager
Islay is a small Hebridean isle, some 25 miles in length, with a population of less than 4,000, yet it boasts eight of the oldest and most famous distilleries in Scotland. Henry Shukman

isle

2 of 2

verb

isled; isling

transitive verb

1
: to make an isle of
2
: to place on or as if on an isle

Examples of isle in a Sentence

Noun the Australian seas are rife with uninhabited isles
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Noun
The nearby private isle of Ambergris Cay, meanwhile, now has a handful of one- and two-bedroom beachfront bungalows and will debut a 10-bedroom beachfront villa in 2025 that will be perfect for group getaways. Travel + Leisure Editors, Travel + Leisure, 20 Nov. 2024 Along with other kids, Uma embarks on a mission to release the prisoners on the isle once and for all in this 2017 sequel. Catherine Santino, People.com, 11 Oct. 2024 In part owing to this wild abundance, Bougainville and its neighboring isles have enticed a succession of fair-skinned cads, colonizers, and crazies. Sean Williams, Harper's Magazine, 23 Sep. 2024 When the barrier between the isle and the kingdom is threatened, Mal and the rest of the villainous offspring band together to save everyone. Catherine Santino, People.com, 11 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for isle 

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, from Anglo-French ile, isle, from Latin insula

First Known Use

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb

circa 1576, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of isle was in the 13th century

Dictionary Entries Near isle

Cite this Entry

“Isle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/isle. Accessed 13 Dec. 2024.

Kids Definition

isle

noun
ˈī(ə)l
: island sense 1
especially : islet
Etymology

Noun

from early French isle "isle, island," from Latin insula "island" — related to insulate, isolate, peninsula

More from Merriam-Webster on isle

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