isle

1 of 2

noun

ˈī(-ə)l 

plural isles

: island

Pacific isles

Steering with due course toward the isle of Rhodes …

—William Shakespeare

especially : a small island : islet

I once lived on the … island of Antiparos, a tiny isle behind Paros.

—Emily Prager

Islay is a small Hebridean isle, some 25 miles in length, with a population of less than 4,000, yet it boasts eight of the oldest and most famous distilleries in Scotland.

—Henry Shukman

isle

2 of 2

verb

isled; isling

transitive verb

1

: to make an isle of

2

: to place on or as if on an isle

Synonyms

Noun

• island
• islet

Examples of isle in a Sentence

Noun

the Australian seas are rife with uninhabited isles

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The Virgin isles are a place of stiff rums rather than grizzled whale meats in the frosty expanse of Greenland. —Michael Loria, USA Today, 4 Apr. 2025

Otherwise, keep this isle clear. —Kristi Kellogg, Architectural Digest, 18 Mar. 2025

Lovely vistas unfold at every turn on the isle that’s tucked between the Atlantic Ocean and Currituck Sound. —Lisa Cericola, Southern Living, 11 Mar. 2025

Published from 2005 to 2008, the series depicts a version of Bond who has retired to a small Scottish isle with his lover, MI6’s Miss Moneypenny. —Colin Burnett, The Conversation, 7 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, from Anglo-French ile, isle, from Latin insula

First Known Use

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb

circa 1576, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for isle

• aisle
• bile
• chyle
• file
• guile
• heil
• kyle
• mile
• pile
• rile
• smile
• stile

Kids Definition

isle

noun

ˈī(ə)l

: island sense 1

especially : islet

Etymology

Noun

from early French isle "isle, island," from Latin insula "island" — related to insulate, isolate, peninsula