# island

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈaɪlənd/ · frequency rank #1,052

## Definitions
1. A contiguous area of land, smaller than a continent, totally surrounded by water.
2. A contiguous area of land, smaller than a continent, partially surrounded by water; a peninsula; a half-island.
3. An entity surrounded by other entities that are very different from itself.
4. A superstructure on an aircraft carrier's deck.
5. A traffic island.
6. A roundabout; a traffic circle.
7. A bench, counter, etc., that is not connected to a wall or other furniture and which can be used from any side.
8. A bench, counter, etc., that is not connected to a wall or other furniture and which can be used from any side.
9. An unincorporated area wholly surrounded by one or more incorporated areas.
10. A phrase from which a wh-word cannot be extracted without yielding invalid grammar.

## Etymology
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₂ékʷeh₂
Proto-Germanic *awjō
Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ-
Proto-Indo-European *-om
Proto-Germanic *landą
Proto-Germanic *awjōlandą
Proto-West Germanic *auwjuland
Old English īeġland
Middle English ilond
English iland
English island
From earlier iland, from Middle English iland, yland, ylond, from Old English īeġland, from Proto-West Germanic *auwjuland, from Proto-Germanic *awjōlandą (from Proto-Germanic *awjō (“island, waterland, meadow”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ekʷeh₂) + *landą (“land”), equivalent to ey + land.
Doublet of Öland. Cognate with Scots island, iland, yland (“island”), West Frisian eilân (“island”), Saterland Frisian Ailound (“island”), Dutch eiland (“island”), Low German Eiland (“island”), German Eiland (“island”), Swedish ö (“island”), Öland (“Sweden's second largest island”), Danish ø (“island”), Norwegian øy (“island”), øyland (“large island”), Icelandic eyland (“island”).
The insertion of ⟨s⟩—a 16th century spelling modification—is due to a change in spelling to the unrelated term isle, which previously lacked s (cf. Middle English ile, yle). The re-addition was mistakenly carried over to include iland as well. Related also to German Aue (“water-meadow”), Latin aqua (“water”). More at ea.

## Easily confused with
- **Islands** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/island-vs-islands)
- **islander** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/island-vs-islander)
- **Isla** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/isla-vs-island)
- **Ilan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ilan-vs-island)
- **Islam** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/islam-vs-island)
- **inland** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/inland-vs-island)
- **inlaid** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/inlaid-vs-island)
- **Ireland** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ireland-vs-island)
- **Iceland** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/iceland-vs-island)

## Common misspellings (9)
`ilsand`, `isalnd`, `isladn`, `islandd`, `islannd`, `islland`, `islnad`, `issland`, `siland`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/island