isle

1 of 2

noun

ˈī(-ə)l 

plural isles

: island

Pacific isles

Steering with due course toward the isle of Rhodes …

—William Shakespeare

especially : a small island : islet

I once lived on the … island of Antiparos, a tiny isle behind Paros.

—Emily Prager

Islay is a small Hebridean isle, some 25 miles in length, with a population of less than 4,000, yet it boasts eight of the oldest and most famous distilleries in Scotland.

—Henry Shukman

isle

2 of 2

verb

isled; isling

transitive verb

1

: to make an isle of

2

: to place on or as if on an isle

Synonyms

Noun

• island
• islet

Examples of isle in a Sentence

Noun

the Australian seas are rife with uninhabited isles

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Along with other kids, Uma embarks on a mission to release the prisoners on the isle once and for all in this 2017 sequel. —Catherine Santino, People.com, 11 Oct. 2024

In part owing to this wild abundance, Bougainville and its neighboring isles have enticed a succession of fair-skinned cads, colonizers, and crazies. —Sean Williams, Harper's Magazine, 23 Sep. 2024

When the barrier between the isle and the kingdom is threatened, Mal and the rest of the villainous offspring band together to save everyone. —Catherine Santino, People.com, 11 Oct. 2024

Some of her past itineraries have taken travelers to make pottery on a windswept isle in the Aegean; to climb to the top of Mt. Batur to watch the sun rise over Bali; and to ride horseback through the Viñales Valley in Cuba. —Travel + Leisure Editors, Travel + Leisure, 12 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, from Anglo-French ile, isle, from Latin insula

First Known Use

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb

circa 1576, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

isle

noun

ˈī(ə)l

: island sense 1

especially : islet

Etymology

Noun

from early French isle "isle, island," from Latin insula "island" — related to insulate, isolate, peninsula