Etymograph

English

insular

Insular comes from Latin īnsulāris ‘of or belonging to an island’, and goes back to Ancient Greek νῆσος.

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEνῆσοςnêsos‘island’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEīnsula‘an island’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEīnsulāris‘of or belonging to an island’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1744insular

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEνῆσοςnêsos‘island’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEīnsula‘an island’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEīnsulāris‘of or belonging to an island’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1744insular

Earliest quotation: 1744, George Berkeley, Siris: “these insulars in general live in a gross saline…”

The story

Learned borrowing from Latin īnsulāris (‘of or belonging to an island’), from īnsula (‘an island’), of uncertain origin.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)neh₂- ‘to flow, to swim’

nurse, naval, navigation, navigate, nausea, nutrient, nurture, navigator, nutritious, navigable, nao, nourish, nau, astronautics, 24 more

Today it means

adj Of or being, pertaining to, situated on, or resembling an island or islands.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Ancient Greek νῆσος / insular

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