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

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

Perhaps so, but the imaginary apocalypse made Easter Island famous.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 2026

The museum has two moai statues which were taken from the Chilean territory of Rapa Nui, or Easter Island, in 1868.

From BBC • Feb. 18, 2024

The vitrines also contain some relatively large stand-alone heads, without bodies, that resemble miniature versions of the giant heads of Easter Island.

From New York Times • Feb. 1, 2024

Eurasia and Mesoamerica developed indigenous writing, which failed to emerge in Polynesia, except perhaps on Easter Island, whose mysterious script may however have postdated the islanders’ contact with Europeans.

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