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• peninsula
  peninsula

  noun

  an area of land almost completely surrounded by water except for an isthmus connecting it with the mainland.
• Peninsula
  Peninsula

  noun

  short for the Iberian Peninsula

peninsula

American  

[puh-nin-suh-luh, -nins-yuh-luh] / pəˈnɪn sə lə, -ˈnɪns jə lə /

noun

• peninsulas
  plural

1. an area of land almost completely surrounded by water except for an isthmus connecting it with the mainland.

2. the Peninsula,

   1. Spain and Portugal together; Iberian Peninsula; Iberia.

   2. a district in SE Virginia between the York and James rivers: Civil War battles.

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peninsula ¹ British  

/ pɪˈnɪnsjʊlə /

noun

1. a narrow strip of land projecting into a sea or lake from the mainland

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Peninsula ² British  

noun

1. short for the Iberian Peninsula

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peninsula Scientific  

/ pə-nĭn′syə-lə /

1. A piece of land that projects into a body of water and is connected with a larger landmass.

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peninsula Cultural  

1. A body of land enclosed on three sides by water, jutting out from a larger body of land.

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Usage

The noun peninsula is sometimes confused with the adjective peninsular: the Iberian peninsula (not peninsular )

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• peninsularism
  noun
• peninsularity
  noun
• peninsular
  adjective
• transpeninsular
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• peninsulas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of peninsula

1530–40; < Latin paenīnsula, equivalent to paen- pen- + īnsula island

Explanation

Part of Italy is a peninsula, and it's a pretty famous one, because it looks like a boot. A peninsula juts into the water but has at least a narrow a connection to land. If the boot broke off from Italy just below the "knee," it would be an island. The word peninsula, which entered English in the 16th century, comes from the Latin words paene, "almost," and insula, "island." Some confuse an island with a peninsula because both are surrounded by so much water, but a peninsula is connected to a mainland at some point, while an island is completely encircled by water. In most cases, a peninsula is narrow and long, resembling an arm or leg.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

peninsula Peninsula peninsulas

"It has been very hard," he said, adding that the cliffs - a popular tourist site on the south-west of the Gower peninsula - now felt "empty".

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

Lee proposed talks at the weekend to formally end the Korean War and said Tuesday that joint US-South Korean drills showed no "intention to attack North Korea or escalate tensions on the Korean peninsula".

From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026

The peninsula covers about 110 square miles — roughly five times the size of Manhattan.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

The conflict between the two occupants of the Korean peninsula has been effectively frozen since an armistice was signed in 1953.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

We’ll also be safe from the Spanish because it’s on a peninsula and we’ll be able to see any approaching Spanish ships for miles down the river.

From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone

Even before Mr. Trump’s latest sally, his North Korea remarks reached far beyond the Peninsula.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

In a statement, the South Korean embassy in the U.S. said it hoped that the “friendly relationship” between Trump and Kim would lead to “meaningful dialogue” and advance stability on the Korean Peninsula.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

Weber Pierson said that SB 958 “is not special-interest legislation” during a Aug. 9 public forum about the project, describing it a broad-based housing tool, according to the Peninsula Beacon.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

On August 2, 2027, a total solar eclipse will cross southern Spain, northern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.

From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026

I wanted to show her the Vietnam that kept me awake at night—a shady trail outside the village of My Khe, a filthy old pigsty on the Batangan Peninsula.

From "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien

"In all these periods, the present-day islands and peninsulas of Ayvalık would have formed interior zones within an expansive terrestrial environment," explains co-author Professor Kadriye Özçelik, from Ankara University.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2025

A couple of peninsulas away, signs around the scenic Bay Run mark where mangroves have been ripped from the banks of Iron Cove.

From BBC ● May 11, 2024

How many businesses opened on islands and peninsulas in Washington, courting tourists with restaurants, bed-and-breakfasts and boutiques?

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 21, 2024

“There’s a sequence of island peninsulas that surround the harbor with forts on all of them, and we thought that made for rich pickings as far as the nautical side of the movie.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 10, 2024

Europe has a highly indented coastline, with five large peninsulas that approach islands in their isolation, and all of which evolved independent languages, ethnic groups, and governments: Greece, Italy, Iberia, Denmark, and Norway/Sweden.

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