Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

desert island

/ˈdɛz.ɚt.aɪlənd/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.31 in modern English

Syllables: de-sert is-land
IPA: /ˈdɛz.ɚt.aɪlənd/

14

Scrabble Score

12

Letters

3

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A deserted island, an uninhabited island, especially one in the tropics and (now frequently misunderstood as) a small and almost entirely sandy desert.

noun

An island that is completely or mostly a desert, an arid island.

noun

Describing a thing considered so personally indispensable or beloved that one could never tire of it, used especially for books and music.

Example Sentences

"What would I take with me to a desert island?"
"My first crew ran away; two men were lost for a month on a desert island; we were ten times aground on coral reefs; we lost four anchors; the sails were devoured by rats; the small boat was lost astern; we were thirty-eight days on the voyage home, which should not have taken twelve [...] we had not one single day of fair wind."
"Desert islands cannot harbour treachery, even from the enemy hidden within man himself."
"Why are you marooning me on a desert island? It's probably full of guano. Can't I go somewhere nice?"
"No, no, no. It's a thought experiment. Your desert island books are the one or five or ten books that you could always learn from and never get sick of."
"My desert-island, all-time, top five most memorable split-ups, in chronological order:[…]"

Etymology

From the former sense of desert to mean deserted (“uninhabited”), particularly common on Spanish and Portuguese maps during the Age of Exploration as isla desierta, ilha deserta, and Medieval Latin isla deserta (“uninhabited island”). Now frequently misunderstood as simply desert (“dry, arid location”) and imagined as almost entirely sandy. As an indispensable thing, from the idea of loving something to the point one would want it on a deserted island where it would be used ad infinitum but never ad nauseam. Popularized by the radio show Desert Island Discs (first broadcast 1942) which asked guests what they would take with them if marooned alone on an island.

Word Breakdown

Root: isla deserta

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈdɛz.ɚt.aɪlənd/

Inflected Forms

desert islands (plural)

Synonyms

top five favorite

Questions

How do you pronounce desert island?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈdɛz.ɚt.aɪlənd/.
What does desert island mean?: A deserted island, an uninhabited island, especially one in the tropics and (now frequently misunderstood as) a small and almost entirely sandy desert.
Where does desert island come from?: From the former sense of desert to mean deserted (“uninhabited”), particularly common on Spanish and Portuguese maps during the Age of Exploration as isla desierta, ilha deserta, and Medieval Latin isla deserta (“uninhabited island”). Now frequently misunderstood as simply desert (“dry, arid location”) and imagined as almost entirely sandy. As an indispensable thing, from the idea of loving something to the point one would want it on a deserted island where it would be used ad infinitum but never ad nauseam. Popularized by the radio show Desert Island Discs (first broadcast 1942) which asked guests what they would take with them if marooned alone on an island.

How to pronounce desert island

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “desert island”.
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