Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An island, especially a small one.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To cause to become or appear like an isle; insulate; island.
  • To dwell on an isle.
  • a short platform, generally protected by posts, placed in the middle of a busy street as a convenience and a temporary stopping-place in crossing the street and as a place of safety in avoiding passing vehicles. Also called refuge.
  • noun An island.
  • noun In entomology, same as islet, 2.
  • noun A hot coal; an ember: usually in the plural.
  • noun An old spelling of aisle.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun See aisle.
  • noun Poetic An island.
  • noun (Zoöl.) A spot within another of a different color, as upon the wings of some insects.
  • transitive verb Poetic To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An island.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a small island

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English ile, from Old French isle, from Vulgar Latin *īsula, from Latin īnsula.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English, from Old French isle, from Latin insula

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word isle.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • You friendly Earth, how far do you go,

    With the wheat fields that nod and the rivers that flow,

    With cities and gardens and cliffs and isles,

    And the people upon you for thousands of miles?

    - William Brighty Rands, 'The Wonderful World'.

    November 17, 2008

  • An aisle is a narrow passageway, especially in a church or store; an isle is an island.
    Paul Brians. “Aisle/Isle”. Common Errors in English Usage

    January 24, 2011