The Collaborative International Dictionary
Chersonese \Cher"so*nese\ (k[~e]r"s[-o]*n[=e]s), n. [Gr. cherso`nhsos; che`rsos land + nh`sos island.] A peninsula; a tract of land nearly surrounded by water, but united to a larger tract by a neck of land or isthmus; as, the Cimbric Chersonese, or Jutland; the Tauric Chersonese, or Crimea.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
from Greek khersonesos "peninsula," from khersos "dry land" + nesos "island," which is of uncertain origin; perhaps from *na-sos, literally "that which swims," from PIE root sna- "to swim" (see natatorium).
Wiktionary
Wikipedia
Chersonese is a name that was given to several different places in ancient times. The word is Latin; it derives from the Greek term for " peninsula", χερσόνησος chersonēsos, from χέρσος chersos ("dry land") + νῆσος nēsos (island).
It was applied to a number of peninsular localities in the ancient world. These included:
- Chersonesos Taurica, ancient Greek colony located near the city of Sevastopol, Crimea
- Taurica, also known as the Tauric Chersonese, ancient name for Crimea
- Thracian Chersonese or Chersonesus Thracica, ancient name for the Gallipoli Peninsula
- Chersonesus Aurea, or Golden Chersonese, ancient name for the Malay Peninsula, described by Ptolemy circa 150 AD.
- Chersonesus Cimbrica or Cimbrian Chersonese, ancient name for Jutland
- Syrian Chersonese, referred to by Plutarch, believed to have been situated in a bend of the Orontes river in the neighbourhood of Antioch.
- Delmarva Peninsula, referred to by King Charles I of England in the 1632 Charter of Maryland as the "Chersonese."
Usage examples of "chersonese".
That very night they set sail in haste just as they were, and, hugging the shore of the Chersonese, coasted along to Elaeus, in order to sail out into the open sea away from the fleet of the enemy.