island

is·land

Use island in a sentence

Ellis Island, New York.

noun

An island is defined as a body of land surrounded by water.
An example of an island is Ellis Island in New York City.
The definition of an island is an area that is isolated or stands alone.
1. An example of an island is a central counter in a kitchen.
2. An example of an island is a raised area in the center of a road.

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"island." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 18 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Island>.

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island. (n.d.). Retrieved January 18th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Island

island

a land mass not as large as a continent, surrounded by water
anything like an island in position or isolation; specif.,
1. a structure above the flight deck of an aircraft carrier containing the bridge, radar, etc.
2. a counter which stands alone as in the central area of a kitchen
3. any of the elevated areas of a service station, having a bank of gasoline pumps: a self-service island
1. traffic island
2. safety island
Anat. a tissue or cluster of cells differing from surrounding tissue in formation, etc.

Origin of island

from Middle English iland (respelled by associated, association with unrelated isle) from Old English igland, iegland, literally , island land and ealand, literally , water land from ig, ieg, isle (akin to German aue, Old Norse ey from Proto-Germanic an unverified form aujo, akin to an unverified form ahwo) and ea, water from Proto-Germanic an unverified form ahwo, water from Indo-European an unverified form akwa from source Classical Latin aqua: see land

to make into or like an island; isolate
to intersperse with or as with islands: a prairie islanded with wooded tracts

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"island." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 18 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Island>.

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island. (n.d.). Retrieved January 18th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Island

island

noun

Abbr. Isl. or Is. or I. A landmass, especially one smaller than a continent, entirely surrounded by water.
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.
Anatomy A cluster of cells differing in structure or function from the cells constituting the surrounding tissue.

transitive verb

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.

Origin of island

Alteration (influenced by isle ) of Middle English ilond from Old English īegland īg, īeg ; see ak^w-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.

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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"island." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 18 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Island>.

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island. (n.d.). Retrieved January 18th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Island

A land mass, especially one smaller than a continent, entirely surrounded by water.

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"island." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 18 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Island>.

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island. (n.d.). Retrieved January 18th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Island

Noun

(plural islands)

A contiguous area of land, smaller than a continent, totally surrounded by water.
An entity surrounded by other entities that are very different from itself.
an island of tranquility (a calm place surrounded by a noisy environment)
an island of colour on a butterfly's wing
A superstructure on an aircraft carrier's deck.
(chiefly UK) A traffic island.
the island in the middle of a roundabout

Verb

(third-person singular simple present islands, present participle islanding, simple past and past participle islanded)

To surround with water; make into an island
To set, dot (as if) with islands
To isolate

Origin

From earlier iland, from Middle English iland, yland, ylond, from Old English īġland, īeġland, ēaland (“island”), from Old English īeġ (“island”) (from Proto-Germanic *awiz, *awjō (“island, water, waterland, meadow”), from Proto-Indo-European *akw- (“water”)) + land (“land”), equivalent to ea +‎ land. Cognate with Scots iland, yland (“island”), West Frisian eilân (“island”), Saterland Frisian Ailound (“island”), Dutch eiland (“island”), Low German Eiland (“island”), German Eiland (“island”), Danish øland (“island”), Icelandic eyland (“island”). The erroneous insertion of s—a late (16th century) spelling modification—is due to unrelated term isle. Related also to German Aue (“water-meadow”), Latin aqua (“water”). More at ea.

Proper noun

(in New York City) Long Island (in New York State)
(in British Columbia) Vancouver Island

English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.

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"island." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 18 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Island>.

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island. (n.d.). Retrieved January 18th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Island

island - Medical Definition

n.

Anatomy A cluster of cells differing in structure or function from the cells constituting the surrounding tissue.

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"island." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 18 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/Island>.

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island. (n.d.). Retrieved January 18th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Island

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island - Medical Definition

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island

island

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island - Medical Definition

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