island
The origin and history of island.
Etymology
From Old English igland, from ieg ("island, water-land") plus land. The "s" was added in the 1500s by mistake, when spellers wrongly linked it to the unrelated French-derived word "isle."
Class of 1500
island first entered the language around 1500. Other words from the same year:
See the full Class of 1500 →