# mainland

Pronunciation: US say "MAYN-luhnd" /ˈmeɪnlənd/; say "MAYN-land" UK /ˈmeɪnlænd/, AUS /mæɪnlænd/

## Noun

1. The principal body of land of a country or region, as distinguished from its islands or a peninsula.
   - Simple: The main area of land in a country, not counting its islands.
   - _The hurricane weakened before it reached the mainland._
   - _Many islanders commute to jobs on the mainland by boat._
2. The largest or most important island within a group of islands.
   - Simple: The biggest or most important island in a group of islands.
   - _Most of the archipelago's residents live on the mainland._
   - _A single airport on the mainland serves the entire chain of islands._
3. Great Britain, especially as viewed from Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, or other surrounding islands. *(Northern Ireland)*
   - Simple: Great Britain, as seen from Northern Ireland or the smaller islands near it.
   - _After growing up on the Isle of Man, he relocated to the mainland to study medicine._
   - _News from the mainland dominated the Belfast papers that week._

## Origin

From Middle English "mayne londe," equivalent to "main" plus "land," with cognates such as Faroese "meginland" and Icelandic "meginland" ("mainland").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/mainland (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).