Easter Island

American  

noun

1. an island in the S Pacific, W of and belonging to Chile. About 45 sq. mi. (117 sq. km): gigantic statues.

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Easter Island British  

noun

1. Polynesian name: Rapa Nui.  Spanish name: Isla de Pascua.  an isolated volcanic island in the Pacific, 3700 km (2300 miles) west of Chile, of which it is a dependency: discovered on Easter Sunday, 1722; annexed by Chile in 1888; noted for the remains of an aboriginal culture, which includes gigantic stone figures. Pop: 3791 (2002). Area: 166 sq km (64 sq miles)

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Example Sentences

More unorthodox still is Attia’s rhapsodic ode to rapamycin, a drug derived from an antifungal agent first discovered in the soil of a volcanic crater on Easter Island.

From Slate • Feb. 26, 2026

In 1913, on the advice of a British Museum curator, Routledge sailed to Easter Island, where she would carry out the first scholarly study of the island’s monuments and traditions.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 2026

Records show that medals were distributed to locals in more than 30 locations that Captain Cook and his crews visited across the pacific, including Tahiti, Easter Island and New Zealand.

From BBC • Nov. 26, 2024

The vitrines also contain some relatively large stand-alone heads, without bodies, that resemble miniature versions of the giant heads of Easter Island.

From New York Times • Feb. 1, 2024

The Polynesians living on Easter Island, in the Pacific Ocean, had a unique script of which the earliest preserved examples date back only to about A.D.

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