Island

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CatalinaIslandWest.jpg

Origin

alteration (influenced by Anglo-French isle) of earlier iland, from Middle English, from Old English īgland (akin to Old Norse eyland), from īg island (akin to Old English ēa river, Latin aqua water) + land land

The spelling of the word was modified in the 15th century due to an incorrect association with the etymologically unrelated Old French loanword isle, which itself comes from the Latin word insula. Old English ig is actually a cognate of Latin aqua (water).

Definitions

a : a usually raised area within a thoroughfare, parking lot, or driveway used especially to separate or direct traffic
b : a superstructure on the deck of a ship (as an aircraft carrier)
c : a kitchen counter that is approachable from all sides

Description

An island is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot or holm. A grouping of geographically or geologically related islands is called an archipelago.

An island may still be described as such despite the presence of an artificial land bridge, for example Singapore and its causeway, or the various Dutch delta islands, such as IJsselmonde. Some places may even retain "island" in their names for historical reasons after being connected to a larger landmass by a wide land bridge, such as Coney Island. Conversely, when a piece of land is separated from the mainland by a man-made canal, for example the Peloponnese by the Corinth Canal, it is generally not considered an island.

There are two main types of islands: continental islands and oceanic islands. There are also artificial islands.