island

(ī'lənd)

1. (Abbr. Isl. or Is. or I.) A land mass, especially one smaller than a continent, entirely surrounded by water.
2. Something resembling an island, especially in being isolated or surrounded, as:
   1. An unattached kitchen counter providing easy access from all sides.
   2. A raised curbed area, often used to delineate rows of parking spaces or lanes of traffic.
   3. The superstructure of a ship, especially an aircraft carrier.
3. Anatomy. A cluster of cells differing in structure or function from the cells constituting the surrounding tissue.

[Alteration (influenced by ISLE) of Middle English ilond, from Old English īegland : īg, īeg + land, land.]

WORD HISTORY   It may seem hard to believe, but Latin aqua, "water," is related to island, which originally meant "watery land." Aqua comes almost unchanged from Indo-European *akwā-, "water." *Akwā- became *ahwō- in Germanic by Grimm's Law and other sound changes. To this was built the adjective *ahwjō-, "watery." This then evolved to *awwjō- or *auwi-, which in pre-English became *ēaj-, and finally ēg or īeg in Old English. Island, spelled iland, first appears in Old English in King Alfred's translation of Boethius about A.D. 888; the spellings igland and ealond appear in contemporary documents. The s in island is due to a mistaken etymology, confusing the etymologically correct English iland with French isle. Isle comes ultimately from Latin īnsula "island," a component of paenīnsula, "almost-island," whence our peninsula.

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For more information on island, visit Britannica.com.

A body of land completely surrounded by water.

In the design of a parking lot (car park), a raised area having a curb, so located to separate traffic lanes and/or to guide traffic.

A land area surrounded by water and remaining above sea level during high tide.

Land areas exposed only during low tide are called low-tide elevations or drying rocks, reefs, or shoals. The existence of islands has generated numerous disputes, centering primarily on the size of the territorial sea surrounding an island and the determination of what state has sovereignty over a particular island. The size of the territorial sea has become an important question affecting fishing rights and the right of unrestricted passage for foreign vessels. Although the territorial sea of an island is usually determined by reference to its coastal baseline, some adjustments have been recognized in the cases of archipelagoes and islands located close to the mainland.

Determination of what state has title to an island has traditionally depended upon an open and continuous assertion of sovereignty over the island, which is usually, but not always, accompanied by physical presence of some representative of the state.

See: territorial waters.

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To escape to an island in a dream may mean the peace of solitude is needed by the dreamer. A further meaning is that the dreamer is afraid of the surrounding waters of her unconscious and wishes to remain isolated from her inner feelings.

A cluster of cells or an isolated piece of tissue.

• blood i's — aggregations of mesenchymal cells in the angioblast of the embryo, developing into vascular endothelium and blood cells.
• i. of Calleja — discrete group of very small nerve cells in the olfactory tubercle of the forebrain.
• i's of Langerhans — see islet of Langerhans.
• i. outbreak — outbreak limited to a specific population, usually a herd, caused often by a localized lack of immunity in a closed herd.

• Earth’s Atmosphere and Topographic Features - island: landmass smaller than a continent, surrounded by water
• Coastal Land, Islands, and the Sea - island: land area completely surrounded by water, smaller than a continent

For other uses, see Island (disambiguation).

British Isles

Cíes Islands in Galicia

Pokonji Dol, a small Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea

A small island in Lower Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks in the U.S.

The islands of Hawai'i are volcanic islands

Fernando de Noronha are submerged mountains islands

Wake Island is a volcanic island that has become an atoll.

An island  /ˈaɪlənd/ or isle /ˈaɪl/ 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 /ˈaɪ.ət/ (also ait /ˈeɪt/), 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.

Contents 1 Etymology 2 Size 3 Types of islands 3.1 Continental islands 3.2 Oceanic islands 3.3 Tropical islands 3.4 Desert islands 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

Etymology

The word island comes from Middle English iland, from Old English igland (from ig, similarly meaning 'island' when used independently, and -land carrying its contemporary meaning; cf. Dutch eiland ("island"), German Eiland ("small island")). However, 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.^[1] Old English ig is actually a cognate of Latin aqua (water).^[2]

Size

Greenland is the world's largest island ^[3] with an area of over 2.1 million km², while Australia, the world's smallest continent^[4] has an area of 7.6 million km², but there is no standard of size which distinguishes islands from continents,^[5] or from islets.^[6]

Types of islands

Continental islands

Continental islands are bodies of land that lie on the continental shelf of a continent. Examples include Greenland, Long Island, and Sable Island off North America; Barbados and Trinidad off South America; Great Britain, Ireland and Sicily off Europe; Sumatra, Borneo and Java off Asia; and New Guinea, Tasmania and Kangaroo Island off Australia.

A special type of continental island is the microcontinental island, which results when a continent is rifted. Examples are Madagascar and Socotra off Africa; New Zealand; New Caledonia; the Kerguelen Islands; and some of the Seychelles.

Another subtype is an island or bar formed by deposition of tiny rocks where a water current loses some of its carrying capacity. An example is barrier islands, which are accumulations of sand deposited by sea currents on the continental shelf. Another example is islands in river deltas or in large rivers. While some are transitory and may disappear if the volume or speed of the current changes, others are stable and long-lived. Islets are very small islands.

Oceanic islands

Oceanic islands are ones that do not sit on continental shelves. The vast majority are volcanic in origin. The few oceanic islands that are not volcanic are tectonic in origin and arise where plate movements have lifted up the deep ocean floor to above the surface. Examples of this include Saint Peter and Paul Rocks in the Atlantic Ocean and Macquarie Island in the Pacific.

One type of volcanic oceanic island is found in a volcanic island arc. These islands arise from volcanoes where the subduction of one plate under another is occurring. Examples include the Mariana Islands, the Aleutian Islands and most of Tonga in the Pacific Ocean. Some of the Lesser Antilles and the South Sandwich Islands are the only Atlantic Ocean examples.

Another type of volcanic oceanic island occurs where an oceanic rift reaches the surface. There are two examples: Iceland, which is the world's second largest volcanic island, and Jan Mayen — both are in the Atlantic.

A third type of volcanic oceanic island is formed over volcanic hotspots. A hotspot is more or less stationary relative to the moving tectonic plate above it, so a chain of islands results as the plate drifts. Over long periods of time, this type of island is eventually "drowned" by isostatic adjustment and eroded, becoming a seamount. Plate movement across a hot-spot produces a line of islands oriented in the direction of the plate movement. An example is the Hawaiian Islands, from Hawaii to Kure, which then extends beneath the sea surface in a more northerly direction as the Emperor Seamounts. Another chain with similar orientation is the Tuamotu Archipelago; its older, northerly trend is the Line Islands. The southernmost chain is the Austral Islands, with its northerly trending part the atolls in the nation of Tuvalu. Tristan da Cunha is an example of a hotspot volcano in the Atlantic Ocean. Another hot spot in the Atlantic is the island of Surtsey, which was formed in 1963.

An atoll is an island formed from a coral reef that has grown on an eroded and submerged volcanic island. The reef rises to the surface of the water and forms a new island. Atolls are typically ring-shaped with a central lagoon. Examples include the Maldives in the Indian Ocean and Line Islands in the Pacific.

Tropical islands

See also: Formation of coral reefs

There are approximately 45,000 tropical islands on Earth.^[7] Among coral tropic islands for example are Maldives, Tonga, Nauru and Polynesia.^[7] Granite islands include Seychelles and Tioman.^[7] The socio-economic diversity of these regions ranges from the Stone Age societies in the interior of Madagascar, Borneo or Papua New Guinea to the high-tech lifestyles of the city-islands of Singapore and Hong Kong. International tourism is a significant factor in the local economy of Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Réunion, Hawaii and the Maldives, among others.

Desert islands

Main article: Desert island

A desert island is an island with no people. Typically, a desert island is denoted as such because it exists in a state of being deserted, or abandoned. Note that an arid desert climate is not typically implied; one dictionary uses the phrase 'desert island' to illustrate the use of 'desert' as an adjective meaning "desolate and sparsely occupied or unoccupied".^[8] According to another, "A desert island is a small tropical island, where nobody lives or an undiscovered island."^[9]

See also

-land Archipelago Cattle Island Desert island High island Inland island Insularity Island biogeography Island country Island hopping Islomania Phantom island Private island Reef Skerry Small Island Developing States            Tidal island Tied island

List of ancient islands List of archipelagos List of artificial islands List of divided islands List of fictional islands List of island countries List of islands by area List of islands (by continent) List of islands (by country) List of islands by highest point List of islands by name List of islands (by ocean, sea, lake or river) List of islands by population List of islands by population density List of islands in lakes List of islands named after people List of islands of the European Union

A small Fijian island A subterranean isle in Križna Cave

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References

Notes

1. ^ "Island". Dictionary.com. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Island. Retrieved 2007-03-05. 
2. ^ Ringe, Donald A. (2006). A Linguistic History of English: From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic. Oxford University Press. p. 109. ISBN 019928413X. 
3. ^ "Joshua Calder's World Island Info". Worldislandinfo.com. http://www.worldislandinfo.com/SUPERLATIVESV2.html. Retrieved 2011-07-29. 
4. ^ http://www.worldislandinfo.com/CONTISLAND.html
5. ^ Brown, Mike. How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming. New York: Random House Digital, 2010. ISBN 0385531087
6. ^ Royle, Stephen A. A Geography of Islands: Small Island Insularity. Psychology Press, 2001. pp. 7-11 ISBN 1857288653
7. ^ ^{a b c} "The Tropical Islands of the Indian and Pacific Oceans". Epub.oeaw.ac.at. http://epub.oeaw.ac.at/2738-3. Retrieved 2009-01-05. 
8. ^ Merriam-Webster Online, "desert" definition 2
9. ^ Collins Cobuild Dictionary (1995)

External links

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Island.

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Islands

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Island

• Definition of island from United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
• Listing of islands from United Nations Island Directory.

v d e Coastal geography Landforms Anchialine pool Avulsion Archipelago Atoll Ayre Barrier bar Barrier island Bay Baymouth bar Bight Brackish marsh Cape Channel Cliff Cliffed coast Cliff-top dune Coast Coastal plain Coastal waterfall Continental margin Continental shelf Coral reef Cove Dune Estuary Firth Fjard Fjord Flat coast Freshwater marsh Fundus Geo Graded shoreline Gulf Headland Inlet Intertidal wetland Island Islet Isthmus Lagoon Marine terrace Mouth bar Raised shorelines Machair Mega delta Mudflat Natural arch Peninsula Reef Ria River delta Rocky shore Salt marsh Shore Sound Stack Steep coast Strait Strand plain Submarine canyon Tied island Tidal island Tidal marsh Tide pool Tombolo More... Beaches Beach cusps Beach evolution Beach ridge Beachrock Modern recession of beaches Pocket beach Raised beach Storm beach Shingle beach Processes Blowhole Coastal erosion Concordant coastline Current Cuspate foreland Discordant coastline Emergent coastline Feeder bluff Fetch Headlands and bays Large scale coastal behaviour Longshore drift Marine regression Marine transgression Rip current Sea cave Sea foam Shoal Spit Submergent coastline Surf break Surf zone Surge channel Swash Volcanic arc Wave-cut platform Wave shoaling Wind wave Wrack zone Management Coastal management Accretion Integrated coastal zone management Submersion Related Bulkhead line Coastline length Intertidal zone Littoral zone Particle size boulder shingle pebble sand silt clay Physical oceanography Region of freshwater influence Scree More...

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - ø, helle
v. tr. - isolere, omslutte, afskære fra omverden

idioms:

• island universe    øverden

Nederlands (Dutch)
eiland, vluchtheuvel, opbouw op schip, oase, eilanden-, isoleren, (als) met eilanden bezaaien

Français (French)
n. - île, (fig) îlot
v. tr. - construire une île, parsemer d'îles, isoler sur une île

idioms:

• island universe    communauté insulaire

Deutsch (German)
n. - Insel, Sockel
v. - inselartig gestalten, mit Inseln versehen, isolieren

idioms:

• island universe    Galaxie

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (γεωγρ.) νησί, διαχωριστική νησίδα οδού
adj. - νησιωτικός

idioms:

• island universe    γαλαξίας

Italiano (Italian)
isola, insulare

idioms:

• island universe    universo chiuso

Português (Portuguese)
n. - ilha (f) (Geog.)
adj. - insular

idioms:

• island universe    qualquer das numerosas galáxias de estrelas

Русский (Russian)
остров, обособлять

idioms:

• island universe    экстрагалактическая туманность

Español (Spanish)
n. - isla, isleta, refugio
v. tr. - aislar, hacer una isla de

idioms:

• island universe    universo aislado, galaxia externa

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - ö, refug
adj. - ö-

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
岛, 安全岛, 岛状物, 双面月台, 使成岛状, 孤立

idioms:

• island universe    岛宇宙

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 島, 安全島, 島狀物, 雙面月臺
v. tr. - 使成島狀, 孤立

idioms:

• island universe    島宇宙

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 섬, 고립된 언덕
v. tr. - 섬으로 만들다, 고립시키다, (섬처럼) 산재해 있다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 島, 島に似たもの, 安全地帯
v. - 島にする, 島に置く

idioms:

• island universe    島宇宙

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) جزيرة (صفه) جزري‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮אי, דבר מבודד, מבנים על סיפון אוניה‬
v. tr. - ‮עשה לאי, מיקם על אי, בודד‬

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