peninsula
[puh-nin-suh-luh, -nins-yuh-luh]
- an area of land almost completely surrounded by water except for an isthmus connecting it with the mainland.
- the Peninsula,
- Spain and Portugal together; Iberian Peninsula; Iberia.
- a district in SE Virginia between the York and James rivers: Civil War battles.
Show More
Origin of peninsula
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for peninsular
Contemporary Examples
Andhra Pradesh, stretching from central to peninsular India, is larger than New Zealand.
Historical Examples
To this may be added a noble and gentle deed of Ney during the same Peninsular War.
Self-HelpSamuel Smiles
There could hardly have been greater joy in England over a Peninsular victory.
The Land We Live InHenry Mann
But the fact is that the land is not really so peninsular as it looks and as it feels.
Sketches of Travel in Normandy and MaineEdward A. Freeman
The Peninsular and Oriental mail-boat had been signalled and had come.
Fragments of science, V. 1-2John Tyndall
But the Peninsular war, in the historical sense, was not yet over.
The Political History of England - Vol XIGeorge Brodrick
Peninsula
- the Peninsula short for the Iberian Peninsula
Show More
peninsula
- a narrow strip of land projecting into a sea or lake from the mainland
Show More
Word Origin
C16: from Latin, literally: almost an island, from paene pene- + insula island
usage
The noun peninsula is sometimes confused with the adjective peninsular: the Iberian peninsula (not peninsular)
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 peninsular
peninsula
n.
1530s, from Latin pæninsula "a peninsula," literally "almost an island," from pæne "almost" + insula "island" (see isle). Earlier translated as demie island.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
peninsula
[pə-nĭn′syə-lə]
- A piece of land that projects into a body of water and is connected with a larger landmass.
Show More
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
peninsula
A body of land enclosed on three sides by water, jutting out from a larger body of land.
Show More
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.