island

island
islandish, islandlike, adj.islandless, adj.
/uy"leuhnd/, n.
1. a tract of land completely surrounded by water, and not large enough to be called a continent.
2. something resembling an island, esp. in being isolated or having little or no direct communication with others.
3. a raised platform with a counter or other work surface on top situated in the middle area of a room, esp. a kitchen, so as to permit access from all sides.
5. a low concrete platform for gasoline pumps at an automotive service station.
6. a clump of woodland in a prairie.
7. an isolated hill.
8. Anat. an isolated portion of tissue differing in structure from the surrounding tissue.
9. Railroads. a platform or building between sets of tracks.
v.t.
10. to make into an island.
11. to dot with islands.
12. to place on an island; isolate.
[bef. 900; ME iland, OE igland, iland, var. of iegland, equiv. to ieg island (c. ON ey) + land LAND; sp. with -s- by assoc. with ISLE]

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I
Any area of land smaller than a continent and entirely surrounded by water.

Islands may occur in oceans, seas, lakes, or rivers. A group of islands is called an archipelago. Continental islands are simply unsubmerged parts of a continental mass that are entirely surrounded by water; Greenland, the world's largest island, is of the continental type. Oceanic islands are produced by volcanic activity, when lava accumulates to enormous thickness until it finally protrudes above the ocean surface. The piles of lava that form Hawaii rise as high as 32,000 ft (9,700 m) above the ocean floor.
II
(as used in expressions)
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
Blackwell's Island
Brooks Islands
D'Entrecasteaux Islands
Hoorn Islands
Goto Islands
Islands Bay of
Khuriyya Muriyya Islands
Kuria Muria Islands
Republic of the Marshall Islands
Pacific Islands Trust Territory of the
Zetland Islands
Kiriwina Islands
Virgin Islands British

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 any area of land smaller than a continent and entirely surrounded by water. Islands may occur in oceans, seas, lakes, or rivers. A group of islands is called an archipelago.

      Islands may be classified as either continental or oceanic. Oceanic islands are those that rise to the surface from the floors of the ocean basins. Continental islands are simply unsubmerged parts of the continental shelf that are entirely surrounded by water. Many of the larger islands of the world are of the continental type. Greenland (840,000 square miles [2,175,000 square km]), the largest island, is composed of the same materials as the adjacent North American continent, from which it is separated by a shallow and narrow sea. Likewise the world's second largest island, New Guinea (309,000 square miles [800,000 square km]), is part of the Australian continental platform and is separated from it only by the very shallow and narrow Torres Strait. A slight warping of the sea bottom in the vicinity of Torres Strait would be sufficient to join New Guinea to Australia; conversely, a slight rise in sea level may submerge a hilly coast and leave the hilltops remaining as small islands just off shore (such are those off the coast near Boston, Mass., and the islands off the Maine coast).

      The islands that rise from the floors of the ocean basins are volcanic. Lava accumulates to enormous thickness until it finally protrudes above the ocean surface. The piles of lava that form Hawaii rise as high as 32,000 feet (9,700 m) above the ocean floor.

      Island life exhibits features of special interest. The sea is a barrier to some forms of life but acts as a carrier of others, which, once established in their new home, frequently develop new features in their isolated surroundings. A long-established sea barrier results in marked differences between the animal life and vegetation even of adjacent islands, and from these differences may be deduced the origin of an island. Further, any detailed map of the biological regions of the globe illustrates the importance of islands in the determination of the boundaries of animal-life and vegetational types. For example, to the west of a line ( Wallace's Line) running between Bali and Lombok and between Borneo and Celebes, the islands are biologically Asian, but to the east of the line, notwithstanding the narrowness of the Lombok Strait, the vegetation and animal life are Australian. Oceanic islands are usually colonized by only a few animal forms, chiefly seabirds and insects. They are often covered with abundant vegetation, the seeds of which have been carried there, for example, by air and water currents or by birds; but the plant variety is relatively limited.

       Largest islands of the world Largest islands of the worldA list of the world's largest islands is provided in the table.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Island — Ísland Island …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • island — [ī′lənd] n. [< ME iland (respelled by assoc. with unrelated ISLE) < OE igland, iegland, lit., island land & ealand, lit., water land < ig, ieg, isle (akin to Ger aue, ON ey < PGmc * aujo, akin to * ahwo) & ea, water < PGmc * ahwo,… …   English World dictionary

  • Island — Island, palabra inglesa que significa «isla», puede referirse a: Island (Yonne), comuna de Francia. Island (álbum), álbum de Current 93. Island (banda), banda musical chipriota. Island Records, empresa discográfica. Ísland es la palabra islandesa …   Wikipedia Español

  • Island — Is land, n. [OE. iland, yland, AS. [=i]gland, ?gland, ?glond; [=i]g, ?g, island + land, lond, land. AS. [=i]g, ?g, is akin to AS. e[ a] water, river, OHG. ?uwa, G. au meadow, Icel. ey island, Dan. & Sw. [ o], Goth. ahwa a stream, water, L. aqua… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Island — Is land, v. t. 1. To cause to become or to resemble an island; to make an island or islands of; to isle. Shelley. [1913 Webster] 2. To furnish with an island or with islands; as, to island the deep. Southey. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Island — Island, eine zu Dänemark gehörige Insel im nördlichen Atlantischen Ozean, liegt zwischen 63°23 –66°32 nördl. Br. und 13°31 –24°29 westl. L., ist 965 km von Norwegen und 360 km von Grönland entfernt. Ihre Ausdehnung beträgt von N. nach S 356 km,… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Island — Island, die große Insel des nördlichen Eismeeres, welche schon den Römern und Griechen unter dem Namen Thule bekannt gewesen sein soll. Wahrscheinlich wurde sie von Norwegen aus bevölkert und kam später mit diesem unter dänische Oberherrschaft.… …   Damen Conversations Lexikon

  • island — island, isle The two words are etymologically unconnected. Island is derived from an Old English word īgland, which is a combination of īg (itself meaning ‘island’) and land; isle is a reduced form of insula, the Latin word for ‘island’ …   Modern English usage

  • Island — (Пефки,Греция) Категория отеля: Адрес: Paraliaki Odos, Пефки, 34200, Греция Описание …   Каталог отелей

  • island — index isolate Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 island …   Law dictionary

  • Island — может обозначать: Island Records  звукозаписывающая компания Island (группа)  киприотская поп группа, участники Евровидения 1981 …   Википедия

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