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

That is the unknown island, the unknowable isle: the place of true love. —Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 13 Dec. 2024

The nearby private isle of Ambergris Cay, meanwhile, now has a handful of one- and two-bedroom beachfront bungalows and will debut a 10-bedroom beachfront villa in 2025 that will be perfect for group getaways. —Travel + Leisure Editors, Travel + Leisure, 20 Nov. 2024

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

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