Darien

American  

[dair-ee-en, -uhn, dar-, dair-ee-en, dar-] / ˈdɛər iˌɛn, -ən, ˈdær-, ˌdɛər iˈɛn, ˌdær- /

noun

1. Gulf of Darien, an arm of the Caribbean between northeastern Panama and northwestern Colombia.

2. Isthmus of Darien, former name of the Isthmus of Panama.

3. a town in southwestern Connecticut.

4. a city in northeastern Illinois.

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Darien British  

/ ˈdæ-, ˈdɛərɪən /

noun

1. the E part of the Isthmus of Panama, between the Gulf of Darien on the Caribbean coast and the Gulf of San Miguel on the Pacific coast; chiefly within the republic of Panama but extending also into Colombia: site of a disastrous attempt to establish a Scottish colony in 1698

2. the former name of the Isthmus of Panama

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Example Sentences

The use of sterile flies pushed the screwworms south below the Darien Gap, Panama's heavily-forested border region with Colombia.

From BBC • Jun. 5, 2026

She learned the Hong Kong version to connect with her Chinese grandmother and is co-founder of Gold Coast Mahjong Club, an American club in Darien, Conn.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

Berard, who spends his summer offseason living with the Fioritas in Darien, Conn., is a forward for the New York Rangers.

From The Wall Street Journal • Aug. 13, 2025

Mulino early on worked to reduce the migration flows through Panama’s Darien Gap and has been helping to facilitate immigration deportation flights from the U.S. to parts of Central and South America.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 11, 2025

However, they are fragmented by geography and by ecology: the Isthmus of Panama, only 40 miles wide, virtually transects the Americas geographically, as do the isthmus’s Darien rain forests and the northern Mexican desert ecologically.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond