"island" in seven languages
Meaningisland
Spanish
isla
/ˈisla/
fem.inherited
French
île
/il/
fem.inherited
Old French isle: the circumflex marks the lost s.
Italian
isola
/ˈizola/
fem.inherited
Portuguese
ilha
/ˈiʎɐ/
fem.inherited
Romanian
insulă
/ˈinsulə/
fem.learned
Catalan
illa
/ˈiʎə/
fem.inherited
English
island
/ˈaɪlənd/
native English · Old English īegland
The silent s was added by false analogy with isle, which does come from INSULAM.
English → ItalianislandisolaNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: insular, insulate, peninsula, isle.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
INSULAM‘island’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
The n of INSULA was already silent in Latin speech. English isle comes from Old French isle; the s of island was added by scholars who wrongly linked it to isle.
English relatives: insular, insulate, peninsula, isle
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esSicilia es la isla más grande del Mediterráneo.
- frLa Sicile est la plus grande île de la Méditerranée.
- itLa Sicilia è l'isola più grande del Mediterraneo.
- ptA Sicília é a maior ilha do Mediterrâneo.
- roSicilia este cea mai mare insulă din Mediterana.
- caSicília és l'illa més gran de la Mediterrània.
- enSicily is the biggest island in the Mediterranean.