Tenerife

American  

[ten-uh-rif, -reef, te-ne-ree-fe] / ˌtɛn əˈrɪf, -ˈrif, ˌtɛ nɛˈri fɛ /

Or Teneriffe

noun

1. the largest of the Canary Islands, off the northwestern coast of Africa. 794 sq. mi. (2,055 sq. km). Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

2. Pico de Tenerife Pico de Teide.

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Tenerife British  

/ teneˈrife, ˌtɛnəˈriːf /

noun

1. a Spanish island in the Atlantic, off the NW coast of Africa: the largest of the Canary Islands; volcanic and mountainous; tourism and agriculture. Capital: Santa Cruz. Pop: 778 071 (2002 est). Area: 2058 sq km (795 sq miles)

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Etymology

Origin of Tenerife

First recorded in 1595–1600; from Guanche (an extinct Berber language spoken on the Canary Islands) tene, teni “mountain” + ife “white,” specifically Mount Teide ( def. )

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Tenerife

Police met flight EZY3352 when it touched down at Tenerife South airport on Tuesday evening, per the crew's request.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

My four grandparents came from Spain to Cuba — from my mother’s side, they were from Tenerife, Isla Canaria.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026

He then spent three "very cold, very difficult" months in a migrant camp in Tenerife until he joined a project helping him to learn Spanish and find a way to stay on the island legally.

From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026

The trip was supposed to finish there, but the ship eventually sailed to Tenerife in the Canary Islands for the evacuations by plane.

From Barron's ● May 18, 2026

The Beagle lifted anchor on December 27, 1831, with seventy-three sailors on board, clearing a gale and tacking southward toward Tenerife.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee