island
Plural: islands
Noun
- a land mass (smaller than a continent) that is surrounded by water
- a zone or area resembling an island
- A contiguous area of land, smaller than a continent, totally surrounded by water.
- A contiguous area of land, smaller than a continent, partially surrounded by water; A peninsula; A half-island.
- An entity surrounded by other entities that are very different from itself.
- A superstructure on an aircraft carrier's deck.
- A traffic island.
- A roundabout; a traffic circle.
- A bench, counter, etc., that is not connected to a wall or other furniture and which can be used from any side.
- An unincorporated area wholly surrounded by one or more incorporated areas.
- A phrase from which a wh-word cannot be extracted without yielding invalid grammar.
Verb
Verb Forms: islanded, islanding, islands
- To surround completely, making something isolated like an island.
- To surround with water; make into an island.
- To set, dot (as if) with islands.
- To isolate.
Examples
- Adverbial subordinate clauses are islands for extraction: "They have a billion dollars of inventory that they don't know where *(it) is".
- an island of colors on a butterfly's wing
- Despite its name, Barry Island is actually a peninsula
- Dunton island, near Birmingham, is one of the most confusingly labelled islands in the U.K.
- He managed to ISLAND his opponent’s potential plays, leaving them stranded.
- In Coventry, you will often hear people say: “Turn right at the island”.
- the island in the middle of a roundabout
- The quiet library was an island of tranquility in the noisy, bustling city.
Origin / Etymology
From earlier iland, from Middle English iland, yland, ylond, from Old English īeġland, from Proto-West Germanic *auwjuland, from Proto-Germanic *awjōlandą (from Proto-Germanic *awjō (“island, waterland, meadow”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ekʷeh₂) + *landą (“land”), equivalent to ey + land.
Doublet of Öland. Cognate with Scots island, iland, yland (“island”), West Frisian eilân (“island”), Saterland Frisian Ailound (“island”), Dutch eiland (“island”), Low German Eiland (“island”), German Eiland (“island”), Swedish ö (“island”), Öland (“Sweden's second largest island”), Danish ø (“island”), Norwegian øy (“island”), øyland (“large island”), Icelandic eyland (“island”).
The insertion of ⟨s⟩—a 16th century spelling modification—is due to a change in spelling to the unrelated term isle, which previously lacked s (cf. Middle English ile, yle). The re-addition was mistakenly carried over to include iland as well. Related also to German Aue (“water-meadow”), Latin aqua (“water”). More at ea.
Scrabble Score: 7
island: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordisland: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
island: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary