Sicily

American  

[sis-uh-lee] / ˈsɪs ə li /

noun

1. an island in the Mediterranean, constituting a region of Italy, and separated from the SW tip of the mainland by the Strait of Messina: largest island in the Mediterranean. 9,924 sq. mi. (25,705 sq. km). Palermo.

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Sicily British  

/ ˈsɪsɪlɪ /

noun

1. Latin names: Sicilia.   Trinacria.  Italian name: Sicilia.  the largest island in the Mediterranean, separated from the tip of SW Italy by the Strait of Messina: administratively an autonomous region of Italy; settled by Phoenicians, Greeks, and Carthaginians before the Roman conquest of 241 _bc ; under Normans (12th–13th centuries); formed the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies with Naples in 1815; mountainous and volcanic. Capital: Palermo. Pop: 4 972 124 (2003 est). Area: 25 460 sq km (9830 sq miles)

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Sicily Cultural  

1. Island in southern Italy on the Mediterranean Sea, separated from the Italian mainland by the narrow Strait of Messina. Its capital is Palermo.

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It is the largest Mediterranean island.

Other Word Forms

• Sicilian
  adjective

Example Sentences

She is preparing to climb Mount Etna in Sicily in honour of her mum and to raise funds for domestic violence charity Edinburgh Women's Aid.

From BBC • May 6, 2026

The original idea came from Sir William Hamilton, British ambassador to Naples and Sicily from 1765 to 1800, who was also deeply interested in volcanology.

From Science Daily • May 2, 2026

She fled and founded Carthage around 814 B.C. on the North African coast opposite Sicily.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 11, 2026

Amanda Dunbar has also built a following of about 130,000 on TikTok, where she posts videos of her experiences in Sicily, and helps others make the move—and buy houses—themselves.

From Slate • Feb. 1, 2026

They say that often Greek flowers are seen coming up from the bottom, and that if a wooden cup is thrown into the Alpheus in Greece, it will reappear in Arethusa’s well in Sicily.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton