isle
[ahyl]
- a small island.
- any island.
Show More
- to make into or as if into an isle.
- to place on or as if on an isle.
Show More
Origin of isle
1250–1300; Middle English i(s)le < Old French < Latin īnsula
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
peninsulareefarchipelagoenclaveisletislesanctuarybarshelterretreatkeyhavenrefugeatollcayaitExamples from the Web for isles
Contemporary Examples
Disney-star-turned-'Rizzoli & Isles'-actor Lee Thompson Young died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound Monday.
But by 1920, American per-capita GDP exceeded that of the British Isles.
Historical Examples
Our nation is in number more than half that of the British Isles.
By one of these we enter, to find ourselves among a hundred isles.
Indian Legends of Vancouver IslandAlfred Carmichael
By far the most tragic fate, however, was that suffered by the British Isles.
Spawn of the CometHarold Thompson Rich
The skiff left the bank, advancing slowly towards the isles.
Therese RaquinEmile Zola
But his mission is not in the isles of the West; he establisheth the throne in Zion.
Dreamers of the GhettoI. Zangwill
isle
- an island, esp a small one: used in literature and (when cap.) in place names
Show More
Word Origin
C13: from Old French isle, from Latin insula island
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for isles
isle
n.
late 13c., from Old French ile, earlier isle, from Latin insula "island," of uncertain origin, perhaps (as the Ancients guessed) from in salo "(that which is) in the sea," from ablative of salum "the open sea." The -s- was restored first in French, then in English in the late 1500s.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper