■ noun
1》 a piece of land surrounded by water.
2》 a thing that is isolated, detached, or surrounded: the last ~ of democracy in this country.
3》 Anatomy a detached portion of tissue or group of cells. Compare with islet .
Derivatives
~er noun
Origin
OE īegland , from īeg '~' (from a base meaning 'watery') + land ; spelling influenced by isle .