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

After moving to Darien, Conn., the introverted Dalton struggled to make friends until she started playing.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

After conquering South America, which involved dodging gangs in the jungles of the Darien Gap, which bridges Panama and Colombia, his route took him through Mexico.

From BBC • Jan. 10, 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

A few beats later, she shared about how she had been separated from her parents for days while they hiked across the Darien Gap, a dense jungle on the Colombia-Panama border.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 20, 2024

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