Definitions

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

  • An island of the West Indies east of Cuba. Originally inhabited by Arawak Indians, it was claimed by Christopher Columbus for Spain in 1492. The western part (now Haiti) was ceded to France by Spain in 1697. The Dominican Republic, on the eastern part of the island, was formed in 1844.

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

  • proper noun An island in the Caribbean, comprising the nations of Haiti and the Dominican Republic

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

  • noun an island in the West Indies

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Spanish española, short for La Isla Española ("The Spanish Island").

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