peninsula

Pronunciation

• IPA: /pɪˈnɪn.sjʊ.lə/, /ˈpɛn.ɪn.sjʊ.lə/ (UK); /pɪˈnɪn.s(j)ʊ.lə/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin paeninsula (“almost an island”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Latin paene (“almost”) + insula (“island”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} It is related to insular and isle.^[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A piece of land almost surrounded by water and joined to the mainland by a neck or isthmus (1538).^[7][3][5]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century the word was sometimes Englished as demie island.^[4] It was extended to any piece of land projecting into the sea.^[7][5] With a capital, the Peninsula meant Spain and Portugal (1775),^[7][6] as in the Peninsular War.^[6] The adjective peninsular is recorded from 1612.^[3]

Timeline

• 1538 – a piece of land almost surrounded by water.^[7][3][5]
• 1612 – peninsular.^[3]
• 1775 – the Peninsula, Spain and Portugal.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A piece of land that projects into a body of water and is joined to the mainland by an isthmus.
2. Any piece of land jutting out into the water.
3. (the Peninsula) Spain and Portugal; the Iberian Peninsula.

Word family

• peninsular
• peninsularism

Related words

• insular
• insulate
• isolate
• isle
• isthmus

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press