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

“This is the Ellis Island of NFL fans,” Howie Long told me once.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 12, 2026

At the age of five, my grandfather arrived at Ellis Island on Nov. 24, 1949, Thanksgiving Day.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 25, 2025

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

From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2025

“It was like Ellis Island, man. What happened here will never happen again,” said one of the security guards I spoke to in late June.

From Slate ● Jul. 17, 2025

At Ellis Island when the ghost asked Brave Orchid what year her husband had cut off his pigtail, a Chinese who was crouching on the floor motioned her not to talk.

From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston