English
island
Island comes from Old English īeġland, from Proto-Germanic *awjōlandą (*awjō ‘island’ + *landą ‘land’); the -s- comes from unrelated isle.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*awjōlandąreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*auwjulandreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150īeġland
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500iland
- Englishearliest quotation 1624island
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*awjōlandąreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*auwjulandreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150īeġland
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500iland
- Englishearliest quotation 1624island
Earliest quotation: 1624, John Donne, 17. Meditation: “No man is an Iland, intire of it ſelfe;…”
The story
The insertion of ⟨s⟩—a 16th century spelling modification—is due to a change in spelling to the unrelated term isle, which previously lacked s. The re-addition was mistakenly carried over to include iland as well. Related also to German Aue (‘water-meadow’), Latin aqua (‘water’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- ‘land, heath’
lawn, lend, lumbar, lasagna, loma, loin, outlandish, landless, lande, 9 more
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂ekʷeh₂
through Proto-Germanic *awjō ‘island, waterland, meadow’
Today it means
noun A contiguous area of land, smaller than a continent, totally surrounded by water.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *awjōlandą / island