atoll
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of atoll
First recorded in 1615–25; earlier atollon, from French: a word used in early descriptions of the Maldive Island atolls; said to be Divehi ( Indo-Aryan language of the Maldives) atoḷu
Explanation
An atoll is an island formed by a ring-shaped coral reef encircling a lagoon. The word comes from the language of the Maldives, an island chain in the Indian Ocean famous for gorgeous beaches and coral reefs. The word atoll appeared in English in the early 17th century, when the British and the Dutch were vying for control of Indian Ocean trade. You may have heard of Bikini Atoll, in the South Pacific — where the U.S. did extensive nuclear testing in the 1940s and 1950s. Its people were moved to neighboring atolls but haven’t been able to return because of lingering radiation. Even so, Bikini Atoll has become a destination for divers interested in WWII shipwrecks.
Vocabulary lists containing atoll
Physical Geography - Middle School
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Physical Geography - High School
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Pacific Islands - Introductory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The rescue spacecraft developed by the US startup Katalyst is slated to lift off Tuesday at 1023 GMT from a Pacific Ocean atoll aboard a small rocket named Pegasus.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
“I want my money, and I want to go home,” says Markuse Michel, 64, who remembers swimming in azure waters and kicking a soccer ball around with his friends on Peros Banhos atoll.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026
The island of Kiritimati - an atoll in the remote Pacific nation of Kiribati - became the first place to enter 2026.
From BBC ● Dec. 31, 2025
The crew was astonished at the beauty of the atoll, a postcard photo of South Seas paradise.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2025
In the spring of 1951, the lab staged Project Greenhouse, a test of thermonuclear technology at the South Pacific coral atoll of Eniwetok.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
