peninsula

[puh-nin-suh-luh, -nins-yuh-luh]

noun

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

Origin of peninsula

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

Related formspen·in·su·lar, adjectivepen·in·su·lar·ism, pen·in·su·lar·i·ty

[puh-nin-suh-lar-i-tee, -nins-yuh-] /pəˌnɪn səˈlær ɪ ti, -ˌnɪns yə-/, nountrans·pen·in·su·lar, adjective

Can be confusedcape peninsula promontory

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for peninsular

Contemporary Examples of peninsular

Andhra Pradesh, stretching from central to peninsular India, is larger than New Zealand.
India’s Newest State Telangana Is Bosnia Redux
Kranti Rai
March 22, 2014

Historical Examples of peninsular

To this may be added a noble and gentle deed of Ney during the same Peninsular War.
Self-Help
Samuel Smiles
There could hardly have been greater joy in England over a Peninsular victory.
The Land We Live In
Henry 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 Maine
Edward A. Freeman
The Peninsular and Oriental mail-boat had been signalled and had come.
Fragments of science, V. 1-2
John Tyndall
But the Peninsular war, in the historical sense, was not yet over.
The Political History of England - Vol XI
George Brodrick

British Dictionary definitions for peninsular

Peninsula

noun

the Peninsula short for the Iberian Peninsula

peninsula

noun

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

Derived Formspeninsular, adjective

Word Origin for peninsula

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

adj.

1610s, from peninsula + -ar.

peninsula

1530s, from Latin pæninsula "a peninsula," literally "almost an island," from pæne "almost" + insula "island" (see isle). Earlier translated as demie island.

peninsular in Science

peninsula

[pə-nĭn′syə-lə]

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

peninsular in Culture

peninsula

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