Peninsula
/pəˈnɪn.sjə.lə/noun
A piece of land almost surrounded by water but connected to a larger landmass.
Did you know?Peninsula comes from Latin peninsula, meaning “almost island,” from paene (“almost”) + insula (“island”), and insula also gave English words like isolate and insulate.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*h₂en-
“A root meaning “in” or “on” that helped form the Latin preposition paene through later development is uncertain; standard etymology treats paene as an old inherited Latin adverb of approximation.”
Latin
Latin
paene
“Almost, nearly.”
Latin
Latin
insula
“Island; also a block of buildings or an isolated place.”
Classical Latin
Latin
paeninsula
“A landform “almost an island.””
Late Latin
Latin
paeninsula
“Continued use of the geographic term.”
16th Century
English
peninsula
“A tract of land nearly surrounded by water.”