The Collaborative International Dictionary
Island \Is"land\, n. [OE. iland, yland, AS. [=i]gland, ?gland, ?glond; [=i]g, ?g, island + land, lond, land. AS. [=i]g, ?g, is akin to AS. e['a] water, river, OHG. ?uwa, G. au meadow, Icel. ey island, Dan. & Sw. ["o], Goth. ahwa a stream, water, L. aqua water. The s is due to confusion with isle. Cf. Ait, Eyot, Ewer, Aquatic.]
A tract of land surrounded by water, and smaller than a continent. Cf. Continent.
Anything regarded as resembling an island; as, an island of ice.
-
(Zo["o]l.) See Isle, n., 2.
Islands of the blessed (Myth.), islands supposed to lie in the Western Ocean, where the favorites of the gods are conveyed at death, and dwell in everlasting joy.
Usage examples of "islands of the blessed".
Okeanos lived there with his wife Tethys: these were the Islands of the Blessed, the gardens of the gods, the sources of nectar and ambrosia, on which the gods lived.
Soon my task will be completed, Soon your footsteps I shall follow To the Islands of the Blessed, To the Kingdom of Ponemah, To the Land of the Hereafter!
Again it was said that his horses rested on the islands of the Blessed, at the western extremity of the earth, where they browsed on a magic herb.