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
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Noun
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 Some of her past itineraries have taken travelers to make pottery on a windswept isle in the Aegean; to climb to the top of Mt. Batur to watch the sun rise over Bali; and to ride horseback through the Viñales Valley in Cuba. Travel + Leisure Editors, Travel + Leisure, 12 Sep. 2024 The Winner Island of Hawaii The Big Island finally reclaimed the top spot on this list after a two-year hiatus, and with all this isle has to offer, that’s no surprise. Lila Harron Battis, Travel + Leisure, 9 July 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 12 Nov. 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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