Easter Island

American  

noun

1. an island in the S Pacific, W of and belonging to Chile. About 45 sq. mi. (117 sq. km): gigantic statues.

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Easter Island British  

noun

1. Polynesian name: Rapa Nui.  Spanish name: Isla de Pascua.  an isolated volcanic island in the Pacific, 3700 km (2300 miles) west of Chile, of which it is a dependency: discovered on Easter Sunday, 1722; annexed by Chile in 1888; noted for the remains of an aboriginal culture, which includes gigantic stone figures. Pop: 3791 (2002). Area: 166 sq km (64 sq miles)

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Easter Island

Maybe the Faces of Elysian Valley, a traffic circle sculpture that Huckle said “looks like Easter Island in the middle of Cypress Park.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026

More unorthodox still is Attia’s rhapsodic ode to rapamycin, a drug derived from an antifungal agent first discovered in the soil of a volcanic crater on Easter Island.

From Slate ● Feb. 26, 2026

One expert on Polynesian history has estimated that between 1862 and 1888—when Easter Island was brought under the jurisdiction of the Chilean navy—“about 94% of the population perished or emigrated.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026

The British Museum has been subject to a campaign by social media users in Chile demanding the return of a stone monument taken from Easter Island.

From BBC ● Feb. 18, 2024

All other Austronesian languages, from those on Madagascar to those on Easter Island, would then stem from a population expansion out of Taiwan.

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