island
Pluralislands
Pluralislands
Formsislands, islanding, islanded
- 1A piece of land smaller than a continent and completely surrounded by water.
We sailed for hours before the green island finally rose above the horizon.
Thousands of tiny islands dot the warm coastal waters.
UsageYou live or stay on an island (not
incorrect: in an island). The s is silent.Similarisle
Oppositemainland
Note
The core sense, with a spelling that hides its history. Early spellings had no s: Middle English iland and yland, and John Donne's "No man is an Iland" of 1624.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Middle English spellings included iland and yland, without s. en.wiktionary.org
- John Donne wrote the words No man is an Iland. en.wikipedia.org
- The Donne work containing the quotation was first published in 1624. archive.org
- 2A free-standing counter or bench, not attached to a wall, that can be used from any side.
The new kitchen has a marble island big enough to seat four.
He spread the blueprints across the workshop island and studied them.
UsageMost often a kitchen island; before another noun it also works, as in an island counter.
Note
Furniture borrows the image of land with water on every side: the counter stands clear and can be reached all the way round. The word works as a modifier too. In F. J. Thwaites's The Redemption (1936), a woman steps "from behind an island counter." It also stands alone as a noun, as in a kitchen island.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- F. J. Thwaites wrote The Redemption, first published in 1936. en.wikipedia.org
- The novel describes a woman moving from behind an island counter, using the quoted wording. en.wiktionary.org
- 3Something that stands apart, surrounded by other things very different from itself.
Like a single quiet reading room in the middle of a noisy train station.
Their small farm became an island of green among the new housing developments.
The research lab was an island of patience in a company obsessed with quarterly profits.
UsageUsually an island of + a quality, with the surroundings after in or among: an island of calm in the chaos.
Similaroasis, enclave, pocket, haven, refuge
Note
King Leopold used it in 1939 for a neutral Belgium, and Daniel Taylor used it in 2018 for Mohamed Salah's calm in front of goal. The noun after of names the quality. The surroundings, often spelled out, supply the contrast: the noisy city, the chaos of the match.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- King Leopold used the island metaphor for Belgium in 1939. en.wiktionary.org
- Belgium was neutral in 1939. en.wikipedia.org
- Daniel Taylor used the metaphor for Mohamed Salah's composure in 2018. theguardian.com
Less common meanings
- 4A raised or marked strip in the middle of a road, used to guide traffic or give pedestrians a safe place to wait.
An elderly man stood on the island, waiting for the light to change.
Planners added a landscaped island to slow cars approaching the school.
UsageAlso called a traffic island; pedestrians wait on it.
- 5To cut off or isolate a place or person from others, for example by surrounding land with water.
Spring floods often island the old mill, leaving it reachable only by rowboat.
A stubborn pride had islanded him, and by old age he had almost no friends left.
UsageMostly in the form islanded, for a place or person cut off from others.
Note
Isolation by water is the literal picture behind this sense. A. E. Housman's Shrewsbury, "Islanded in Severn stream" (1896), sits right on the line between a town ringed by a river and a town set apart. Plain isolation shows when nothing is wet: in Adeline Whitney's The Gayworthys, a turkey's nest is islanded by a swath of mown hay.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- A. E. Housman describes Shrewsbury with the exact words “Islanded in Severn stream”. gutenberg.org
- The quoted poem was first published in 1896, in A Shropshire Lad. housman-society.co.uk
- Shrewsbury's historic centre is nearly encircled by the River Severn. next.shropshire.gov.uk
- Adeline Whitney wrote The Gayworthys. gutenberg.ca
- The Gayworthys describes a turkey's nest as islanded by a swath of mown hay. gutenberg.ca
- 6A piece of land smaller than a continent that is only partly surrounded by water, such as a peninsula or half-island.
The rocky island juts into the bay, joined to the mainland by a thin strip of sand.
Locals call the long peninsula an island, though a narrow road connects it to shore.
UsageMainly in place names (Barry Island); in plain description, land joined to the shore is a peninsula.
Similarpeninsula, headland, promontory
Note
Place names keep a looser kind of island than geographers allow. Barry Island is joined to the mainland and is really a peninsula, yet the name stands.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Barry Island is joined to the mainland and is a peninsula despite retaining its name. swansea.ac.uk
- 7To dot a surface with islands or with things resembling islands.
From the plane window, she could see the gray sea below, islanded with drifting sheets of ice.
Painters often island a dark canvas with scattered points of light.
Similardot, stud, speckle, pepper, sprinkle
Note
Here the picture flips: the islands are the scattered things, and the surface is the sea they sit in. T. H. Chivers (1843) has space islanded with stars, and Edward Hutton (1915) has Apulia islanded with rich cities. The subject is the open expanse, and whatever follows with is what dots it.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- The Magnolia publication was January 1843. eapoe.org
- Chivers describes space as islanded with stars. en.wiktionary.org
- Edward Hutton's example dates from a book published in 1915. openlibrary.org
- Hutton describes Apulia as islanded with rich cities. en.wiktionary.org
- 8The raised structure on the deck of an aircraft carrier that houses the bridge and flight control areas.
The carrier's island towered over the rows of parked jets.
Officers directed flight operations from the island on the starboard side.
- 9A circular road junction where traffic moves around a central area; a roundabout.
Take the second exit off the island toward the harbor.
Traffic backed up at the island during the evening rush.
Similarroundabout, rotary, circle
Note
In the West Midlands, the whole junction takes the name of its center. People in Coventry say "turn right at the island," and drivers near Birmingham know Dunton Island. It stretches the traffic island, the raised middle of a junction, to cover the circle of road that runs around it.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- The Coventry example uses the documented wording “turn right at the island.” en.wiktionary.org
- Dunton Island is near Birmingham. en.wiktionary.org
- Dunton Island names a roundabout. parliament.uk
- The regional sense applies “island” to the whole roundabout, extending its traffic-island sense. en.wikipedia.org
- 10An area without its own local government that lies entirely within one or more incorporated municipalities.
- 11A grammatical structure from which a wh-word cannot be moved without producing an ungrammatical sentence.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of island apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
From Middle English iland, from Old English īeġland, from Proto-Germanic *awjōlandą, formed from *awjō ("island, waterland, meadow") plus *landą ("land"). It is cognate with Dutch eiland and German Eiland. The silent "s" was added in the 16th century through a spelling change to the unrelated word "isle," and this modification was mistakenly carried over to iland as well.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 9 facts
- Island descends from Middle English iland and Old English īeġland. en.wiktionary.org
- Old English īeġland descends from reconstructed Proto-Germanic *awjōlandą. en.wiktionary.org
- Proto-Germanic *awjōlandą combines *awjō and *landą. en.wiktionary.org
- *Awjō denotes an island or water-associated meadow. en.wiktionary.org
- *Landą means land. en.wiktionary.org
- Island is cognate with Dutch eiland and German Eiland. en.wiktionary.org
- The silent s was inserted during the sixteenth century. en.wiktionary.org
- The spelling was altered under the influence of the unrelated word isle. en.wiktionary.org
- Isle itself acquired an s after Middle English. en.wiktionary.org