Ellis Island

American  

noun

1. an island in upper New York Bay: a former U.S. immigrant examination station.

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Ellis Island ¹ Cultural  

1. An island in the harbor of New York City. The chief immigration station of the United States was on Ellis Island from 1892 to 1943, a time when millions of people, especially from Europe, came to the United States.

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Ellis Island ² Cultural  

1. Island in the harbor of New York City, southwest of Manhattan.

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1990 marked the opening of the Ellis Island Immigration Museum.

Ellis Island lies near the Statue of Liberty, which made an impressive sight for people approaching the United States for the first time.

Part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument.

From 1892 to 1954, it served as the prime immigration station of the country. Some twelve million immigrants passed through it during this time.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Ellis Island

The paternal great-grandmother of goalie Matt Turner fled religious persecution in Lithuania, with his Jewish ancestors changing their family name from Turnovski to Turner when they arrived at Ellis Island.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026

He is the recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, the Arthur W. Page Center Integrity in Public Communications award, and multiple journalism awards.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026

He has said his family, immigrants from Europe, took the name “Ellison” after Ellis Island.

From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2025

When the family endured detention at Ellis Island in 1939, the press visited to cover the story.

From Slate ● Jan. 26, 2025

“When the immigrants came to America through Ellis Island, they would sometimes get ice cream for a treat. But they didn’t recognize ice cream. They thought it was butter, so they spread it on toast.”

From "Fish in a Tree" by Lynda Mullaly Hunt