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oasis

[oh-ey-sis]
noun, plural o·a·ses [oh-ey-seez] /oʊˈeɪ siz/.
  1. a small fertile or green area in a desert region, usually having a spring or well.
  2. something serving as a refuge, relief, or pleasant change from what is usual, annoying, difficult, etc.: The library was an oasis of calm in the hectic city.

Origin of oasis

1605–15; < Late Latin < Greek óasis (Herodotus) < Egyptian wḥʾt oasis, oasis region
Related formso·a·sit·ic [oh-uh-sit-ik] /ˌoʊ əˈsɪt ɪk/, o·a·sal, o·a·se·an [oh-ey-see-uhn] /oʊˈeɪ si ən/, adjective

Synonyms for oasis

2. haven, harbor, retreat, shelter.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for oases

sanctuary, haven, fountain, well, wellspring, hideaway, shelter, sanctum, cover, harbor, escape, asylum, retreat

Examples from the Web for oases

Contemporary Examples of oases

Historical Examples of oases

  • I speak of these things, for they were the oases in army life and drudgery.

    War from the Inside

    Frederick L. (Frederick Lyman) Hitchcock

  • There are oases in it; some of them large, and settled by civilised men.

    The Desert Home

    Mayne Reid

  • Like oases are these Freshmen to the Student-Body collector.

    Stanford Stories

    Charles K. Field

  • One of the oases we visited was the Lucus Ascræus, in the northern hemisphere.

  • There were exceptions, like oases in the desert of ignorance and vice.

    Ulysses S. Grant

    Walter Allen

British Dictionary definitions for oases

oasis

noun plural -ses (-siːz)
  1. a fertile patch in a desert occurring where the water table approaches or reaches the ground surface
  2. a place of peace, safety, or happiness in the midst of trouble or difficulty

Word Origin for oasis

C17: via Latin from Greek, probably of Egyptian origin

Oasis

noun
  1. trademark a block of light porous material, used as a base for flower arrangements
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 oases

oasis

n.

1610s, from French oasis (18c.) and directly from Late Latin oasis, from Greek oasis, probably from Hamitic (cf. Coptic wahe, ouahe "oasis," properly "dwelling place," from ouih "dwell"). The same Egyptian source produced Arabic wahah.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
oases in Science

oasis

[ō-ā′sĭs]
Plural oases (ō-ā′sēz)
  1. A small area in a desert that has a supply of water and is able to support vegetation. An oasis forms when groundwater lies close enough to the surface to form a spring or to be reached by wells.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.