ISLAND

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does island mean? 

• ISLAND (noun)
  The noun ISLAND has 2 senses:

1. a land mass (smaller than a continent) that is surrounded by water

2. a zone or area resembling an island

  Familiarity information: ISLAND used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ISLAND (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A land mass (smaller than a continent) that is surrounded by water

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("island" is a kind of...):

dry land; earth; ground; land; solid ground; terra firma (the solid part of the earth's surface)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "island"):

Caribbean Island (an island in the Caribbean Sea)

Aegean island (an island in the Aegean Sea)

barrier island (a long narrow sandy island (wider than a reef) running parallel to the shore)

South Sea Islands (any islands in the southern or southwestern of central parts of the Pacific Ocean)

Instance hyponyms:

Anguilla (a British colony in the West Indies)

Aran Islands (three small islands belonging to Ireland at the entrance to Galway Bay)

Antigua (the largest of the islands comprising Antigua and Barbuda)

Barbuda; Redonda (an island in Antigua and Barbuda)

Bermuda; Bermudas (a group of islands in the Atlantic off the Carolina coast; British colony; a popular resort)

Bouvet Island (an island belonging to Norway in the South Atlantic near the Antarctic Circle)

Montserrat (a volcanic island in the Caribbean; in the West Indies)

Sao Tiago Island (largest of the Cape Verde Islands in the Atlantic Ocean)

Falkland Islands (a group of over 100 islands in the southern Atlantic off the coast of Argentina; a British Crown Colony)

Ceylon (an island in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of India)

Chiloe (the largest Chilean island and the only one to be settled; located off south-central Chile)

Formosa; Taiwan (an island in southeastern Asia 100 miles off the coast of mainland China in the South China Sea)

China; Nationalist China; Republic of China; Taiwan (a government on the island of Taiwan established in 1949 by Chiang Kai-shek after the conquest of mainland China by the Communists led by Mao Zedong)

Guadalupe Island (a Mexican island in the Pacific to the west of Baja California)

Netherlands Antilles (a group of islands in the Lesser Antilles just to the north of Venezuela that are administered by The Netherlands)

Aruba; Bonaire; Curacao (a popular island resort in the Netherlands Antilles)

Saba (a island in the Netherlands Antilles that is the top of an extinct volcano)

Saint Eustatius; St. Eustatius (an island in the Netherlands Antilles)

Saint Maarten; Saint Martin; St. Maarten; St. Martin (an island in the western Leeward Islands; administered jointly by France and the Netherlands)

Cuba (the largest island in the West Indies)

Guadeloupe (an island territory of France located in the eastern West Indies; tourism is the major industry)

Haiti; Hayti; Hispaniola (an island in the West Indies)

Porto Rico; Puerto Rico (the smallest and easternmost of the Greater Antilles in the Caribbean)

Culebra (a small island off the coast of Puerto Rico with miles of beautiful beaches)

Vieques (a small island off the coast of Puerto Rico used for target practice by the United States Navy)

Jamaica (an island in the West Indies to the south of Cuba and to the west of Haiti)

Virgin Islands (a group of islands in northeastern West Indies (east of Puerto Rico) discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1493; owned by United States and Britain)

Barbados (easternmost of the West Indies about 300 miles to the north of Venezuela)

Trinidad (an island in West Indies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela)

Tobago (island in West Indies)

Cyprus (an island in the eastern Mediterranean)

Seeland; Sjaelland; Zealand (the largest island of Denmark and the site of Copenhagen)

Dominica (a volcanic island in the Windward Islands that was once a stronghold of the Carib Indians)

Bioko (an island in the Gulf of Guinea that is part of Equatorial Guinea)

Spitsbergen; Spitzbergen (islands in the Svalbard archipelago to the east of northern Greenland; belonging to Norway)

Galapagos; Galapagos Islands (a group of islands in the Pacific off South America; owned by Ecuador; known for unusual animal life)

Fiji Islands; Fijis (a group of more than 800 islands (100 inhabited) in the southwestern Pacific; larger islands (Viti Levu and Vanua Levu) are of volcanic origin surrounded by coral reefs; smaller islands are coral)

Viti Levu; Vanua Levu (a volcanic island in the Fijis)

Crete; Kriti (the largest Greek island in the Mediterranean; site of the Minoan civilization that reached its peak in 1600 BC)

Ithaca; Ithaki (a Greek island to the west of Greece; in Homeric legend Odysseus was its king)

Aegadean Islands; Aegadean Isles; Aegates; Egadi Islands; Isole Egadi (a group of islands off the west coast of Sicily in the Mediterranean)

Lemnos; Limnos (a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea; famous for a reddish-brown clay that has medicinal properties)

Capri (an island (part of Campania) in the Bay of Naples in southern Italy; a tourist attraction noted for beautiful scenery)

Ischia (a volcanic island (part of Campania) in the Tyrrhenian Sea at the north end of the Bay of Naples)

Sardegna; Sardinia (an island in the Mediterranean to the west of Italy)

Sicilia; Sicily (the largest island in the Mediterranean)

Greenland; Gronland; Kalaallit Nunaat (the largest island in the world; lies between the North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean; a self-governing province of Denmark)

Baffin Island (the 5th largest island and the largest island of Arctic Canada; lies between Greenland and Hudson Bay)

Vancouver Island (an island off southwestern Canada (off the southwestern coast of British Columbia); the largest island off the west coast of North America)

Newfoundland (an island in the north Atlantic)

Cape Breton Island (an island that forms the northeastern part of Nova Scotia)

Tasmania (an island off the southeastern coast of Australia)

Norfolk Island (an island territory of Australia in the Pacific Ocean off the eastern coast of Australia; formerly a British penal colony)

Saipan (the largest island in the Northern Marianas and the administrative center of the commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in union with the United States)

GU; Guam (the largest and southernmost island in the Marianas which is administered as a territory of the United States; it was ceded by Spain to the United States in 1898)

Wake; Wake Island (an island in the western Pacific between Guam and Hawaii)

Nauru; Nauru Island; Pleasant Island (a small island in the central Pacific Ocean 2,800 miles to the southwest of Hawaii; in Micronesia to the west of the Gilbert Islands)

Borneo; Kalimantan (3rd largest island in the world; in the western Pacific to the north of Java; largely covered by dense jungle and rain forest; part of the Malay Archipelago)

Bougainville (the largest of the Solomon Islands; a province of Papua New Guinea)

Guadalcanal (a mountainous island; the largest of the Solomon Islands in the independent state that is a member of the British Commonwealth)

New Britain (the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago; part of Papua New Guinea)

New Caledonia (an island to the to the east of Australia and to the north of New Zealand)

New Guinea (a Pacific island to the north of Australia; the 2nd largest island in the world; the western part is governed by Indonesia and the eastern part is Papua New Guinea)

New Ireland (an island in the Bismarck Archipelago; part of Papua New Guinea)

Bahrain; Bahrain Island; Bahrein; Bahrein Island (an island in the Persian Gulf)

British Isles (Great Britain and Ireland and adjacent islands in the north Atlantic)

GB; Great Britain (an island comprising England and Scotland and Wales)

Emerald Isle; Hibernia; Ireland (an island comprising the republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland)

Channel Island (any of a group of British islands in the English Channel off the northern coast of France)

Isle of Man; Man (one of the British Isles in the Irish Sea)

Isle of Skye (an island of northwestern Scotland noted for its rugged mountain scenery)

Islay (an island of western Scotland at the southern end of the Inner Hebrides)

Mull (an island in western Scotland in the Inner Hebrides)

Staffa (an island in western Scotland in the Inner Hebrides to the west of Mull; site of Fingal's Cave)

Anglesea; Anglesea Island; Anglesey; Anglesey Island; Mona (an island to the northwest of Wales)

Java (an island in Indonesia to the south of Borneo; one of the world's most densely populated regions)

Bali (an island in Indonesia to the east of Java; striking volcanic scenery; culture is known for elaborate dances and rituals and for handicrafts)

Timor (an island in Indonesia in the Malay Archipelago; the largest and most eastern of the Lesser Sunda Islands)

Sumatra (a mountainous island in western Indonesia)

Celebes; Sulawesi (a mountainous island in eastern Indonesia)

Moluccas; Spice Islands (a group of island in eastern Indonesia between Celebes and New Guinea; settled by the Portuguese but taken by the Dutch who made them the center for a spice monopoly, at which time they were known as Spice Islands)

Ezo; Hokkaido; Yezo (the second largest of the four main islands of Japan; to the north of Honshu)

Hondo; Honshu (the central and largest of the four main islands of Japan; between the Sea of Japan and the Pacific Ocean; regarded as the Japanese mainland)

Kyushu (the southernmost of the four main islands of Japan; contains coal fields)

Shikoku (the smallest of the four main islands of Japan; to the south of Honshu and to the east of Kyushu; separated from Honshu by the Inland Sea; forested and mountainous)

Okinawa (the largest island of the central Ryukyu Islands)

Iwo Jima (the largest of the Volcano Islands of Japan)

Ile-St-Louis (island in Paris on the Seine)

Corse; Corsica (an island in the Mediterranean; with adjacent islets it constitutes a region of France)

Martinique (an island in the eastern Caribbean in the Windward Islands; administered as an overseas region of France)

Faeroe Islands; Faeroes; Faroe Islands; Faroes (a group of 21 volcanic islands in the North Atlantic between Iceland and the Shetland Islands)

Iceland (a volcanic island in the North Atlantic near the Arctic Circle)

Madagascar (an island in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa; the 4th largest island in the world)

Maldive Islands; Maldives (a group of about 1,200 small coral islands (about 220 inhabited) in the Indian ocean)

Malta (a strategically located island to the south of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea)

Mauritius (an island in the southwestern Indian Ocean)

New Zealand; New Zealand Islands (North Island and South Island and adjacent small islands in the South Pacific)

North Island (the smaller but more populous of two main islands of New Zealand; separated from South Island by Cook Strait)

South Island (the larger but less populous of two main islands of New Zealand; separated from North Island by Cook Strait)

Cebu (one of the Visayan islands of the central Philippines; important for its fine harbor)

Luzon (the main island of the Philippines)

Mindanao (the second largest island of the Philippines at the southern end of the archipelago; mountainous and volcanic)

Mindoro (a mountainous island in the central Philippines)

Bisayas; Visayan Islands (group of islands in the central Philippines)

Acores; Azores (islands in the Atlantic Ocean belonging to Portugal)

Madeira (an island in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa; the largest of the Madeira Islands)

Saint Christopher; Saint Kitts; St. Christopher; St. Kitts (the largest of the islands comprising Saint Christopher-Nevis)

Nevis; Sombrero (one of the islands of Saint Christopher-Nevis)

Saint Lucia; St. Lucia (a volcanic island in the Windward Isles to the south of Martinique)

Saint Vincent; St. Vincent (an island in the center of the Windward Islands; the largest of the islands comprising Saint Vincent and the Grenadines)

Tahiti (an island in the south Pacific; the most important island in French Polynesia; made famous by Robert Louis Stevenson and Paul Gauguin)

Samoa; Samoan Islands (a group of volcanic islands in the South Pacific midway between Hawaii and Australia; its climate and scenery and Polynesian culture make it a popular tourist stop)

Principe (an island in the Gulf of Guinea that is part of Sao Tome and Principe)

Seychelles; Seychelles islands (a group of about 90 islands in the western Indian Ocean to the north of Madagascar)

Singapore; Singapore Island (an island to the south of the Malay Peninsula)

Nova Zembla; Novaya Zemlya (two islands in the Arctic Ocean belonging to Russia; site of a test center for nuclear warheads)

Majorca (the largest of the Balearic Islands)

Canaries; Canary Islands (a group of mountainous islands in the Atlantic off the northwest coast of Africa forming Spanish provinces)

Tenerife (a Spanish island in the Atlantic off the northwestern coast of Africa; the largest of the Canary Islands)

Zanzibar (an island in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa; part of the United Republic of Tanzania)

Admiralty Island (an Alaskan island in the Alexander Archipelago near Juneau)

Catalina Island; Santa Catalina (an island resort in the Pacific off the southwestern coast of California)

Hawaii; Hawaii Island (the largest and southernmost of the Hawaii islands; has several volcanic peaks)

Kahoolawe; Kahoolawe Island (an island of south-central Hawaii)

Kauai; Kauai Island (an island of Hawaii to the northwest of Oahu)

Lanai; Lanai Island (an island of central Hawaii; a pineapple-growing area)

Maui; Maui Island (the second largest of the Hawaiian Islands)

Molokai; Molokai Island (an island of central Hawaii (between Maui and Oahu))

Nihau; Nihau Island (the most northwestern Hawaiian island (beyond Kauai))

Oahu; Oahu Island (an island of central Hawaii (between Molokai and Kauai); the chief island of the state)

Martha's Vineyard (an island summer resort off of Cape Cod)

Nantucket (an island resort off Cape Cod; formerly a center of the whaling industry)

Bedloe's Island; Liberty Island (an island in New York Bay to the southwest of Manhattan where the Statue of Liberty stands)

Manhattan Island (an island at the north end of New York Bay where the borough of Manhattan is located)

Ellis Island (an island in New York Bay that was formerly the principal immigration station for the United States)

Long Island (an island in southeastern New York; Brooklyn and Queens are on its western end)

Galveston Island (an island at the entrance of Galveston Bay)

Krakatao; Krakatau; Krakatoa (a small volcanic island in Indonesia between Java and Sumatra; its violent eruption in 1883 was the greatest in recorded history)

New Siberian Islands (a group of islands in the Arctic Ocean to the north of Siberia and to the east of the Laptev Sea)

isle; islet (a small island)

Kodiak; Kodiak Island (an island off southern Alaska in the Gulf of Alaska; site of the first European settlement in the area which was founded by the Russians in 1784)

Holonyms ("island" is a member of...):

archipelago (a group of many islands in a large body of water)

Derivation:

islander (an inhabitant of an island)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A zone or area resembling an island

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("island" is a kind of...):

zone (a locally circumscribed place characterized by some distinctive features)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "island"):

kitchen island (an unattached counter in a kitchen that permits access from all sides)

safety island; safety isle; safety zone; traffic island (a curbed area in a roadway from which traffic is excluded; provides safe area for pedestrians)

 Context examples 

Fish contribute up to 50 per cent of the animal protein diet on some islands.

(Pacific island fish migrating to cooler seas, SciDev.Net)

She thinks of nothing but the Isle of Wight, and she calls it the Island, as if there were no other island in the world.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

My intention was to reach, if possible, one of those islands which I had reason to believe lay to the north-east of Van Diemen’s Land.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

The situation is even more stark in Kiribati, where just 1 per cent of fish catch would address the calcium deficiencies affecting 82 per cent of people living in the Pacific island nation.

(Fairer fish trade could fix nutrient deficiencies in coastal countries, SciDev.Net)

I have endured toil and misery; I left Switzerland with you; I crept along the shores of the Rhine, among its willow islands and over the summits of its hills.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Neither did I, to be sure, he was so loose a talker; yet in this case I believe he was really right and that nobody had told the situation of the island.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Researchers realized that genes weren’t protecting them, because those who moved away from the Kuna islands developed high blood pressure and heart disease at typical rates.

(Can Chocolate Really Be Good for You?, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

But sometimes they came, these Russians, in great ships, and made the people of Pastolik show them the way through the islands uncountable of the many-mouthed Yukon.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

A solid/multicystic ameloblastoma with follicular pattern in which the central cells in the odontogenic epithelial islands show squamous differentiation.

(Acanthomatous Ameloblastoma, NCI Thesaurus)

A state on the central Pacific coast of Mexico that includes the islands of Marias, Isabel, Tres Marietas and Farallon La Pena.

(Nayarit, NCI Thesaurus)