isle

1 of 2

noun

ˈī(-ə)l 

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

Synonyms

Noun

• island

Examples of isle in a Sentence

Noun

the Australian seas are rife with uninhabited isles

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Only about 400 people call this six-mile, volcanic isle home. —Christopher Cameron, Robb Report, 22 May 2025

The isle of Berk is an isolated, faraway land where the Vikings and dragons have been at enmity with one another for generations. —Lynnette Nicholas, Parents, 12 June 2025

The daily red-eye flight lands in Dubrovnik, and the sunny isle of Hvar is just a three-hour ferry ride away. —Evie Carrick, Travel + Leisure, 10 June 2025

Various cultures have visited this Balearic isle over the centuries, including the ancient Phoenicians, who had a colony here. —Pat Tompkins, AFAR Media, 9 June 2025

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

Rhymes for isle

• aisle
• bile
• chyle
• file
• guile
• heil
• kyle
• mile
• pile
• rile
• smile
• stile

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