Etymologically
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isle

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 03:47. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /aɪ̯l/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English ile, borrowed from Old French ile (earlier isle, modern French île),[2][3][4] from Latin īnsula (“island”),[2][3][5] a word of uncertain origin;[3][5][6] following the ancients, some derive it from in (“in”) and the ablative of salum (“open sea”), "that which is in the sea".[7][5][8] Middle French restored the spelling with s in the 15th century after Latin, and English followed, rarely before the late 1500s and regularly from Spenser on.[3][2][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

An island: about 1290, in the South English Legendary;[2] Barnhart dates ile probably about 1225.[3]

Semantic evolution

The older spelling ile survived until about 1700.[2] In the Wycliffite Bible isles rendered the Hebrew word for lands beyond the sea, as in isles of the Gentiles.[2] Isle is now chiefly literary or used of small islands, except in names such as the British Isles and the Isle of Man.[2][10] Its s also spread to the unrelated island, from Old English īgland.[11][3]

Timeline

  • c. 1225 – ile.[3]
  • c. 1290 – an island.[2]
  • 1470 – the spelling isle.[3]
  • 1596 – the verb, to make an isle of.[2]
  • 1670 – a block of buildings (from Latin insula).[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. An island, especially a small one; used chiefly in literature and in place names.

Word family

  • isleless
  • enisle
  • British Isles
  • Fair Isle
  • Isle of Ely
  • Isle of Man
  • Isle of Wight
  • Scilly Isles

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  11. ^ Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster