insular

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin insularis (“of or belonging to an island”), from insula (“an island”), perhaps, from in (“in”) + salum (“the main sea”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɪnsjələ/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɪnsəlɚ/, /ˈɪnsjəlɚ/
• Hyphenation: in‧su‧lar

Adjective

insular (comparative more insular, superlative most insular)

1. Of or being, pertaining to, situated on, or resembling an island or islands.
   • 1836 October, Washington Irving, chapter VI, in Astoria, or Anecdotes of an Enterprise beyond the Rocky Mountains. […], volume I, Philadelphia, Pa.: [Henry Charles] Carey, [Isaac] Lea, & Blanchard, →OCLC, page 67:

     At the time of the arrival of the Tonquin he had about forty schooners, of from twenty to thirty tons burthen, and one old American ship. With these he held undisputed sway over his insular domains, and carried on intercourse with the chiefs or governors whom he had placed in command of the several islands.

   • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter I, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:

     There now is your insular city of the Manhattoes, belted round by wharves as Indian isles by coral reefs.

2. Separate or isolated from the surroundings; having little regard for others opinions or prejudices; provincial.
   • 1903 July, Jack London, “Into the Primitive”, in The Call of the Wild, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC, pages 18–19:

     During the four years since his puppyhood he had lived the life of a sated aristocrat; he had a fine pride in himself, was even a trifle egotistical, as country gentlemen sometimes become because of their insular situation.

3. Having an inward-looking, standoffish, or withdrawn manner.
   • 1905, E[dward] M[organ] Forster, chapter VI, in Where Angels Fear to Tread, Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, page 202:

     Harriet was fretful and insular. Miss Abbott was pleasant, and insisted on praising everything: her only regret was that she had no pretty clothes with her.

4. (anatomy) Relating to the insula in the brain.
5. (biochemistry) Relating to insulin.
6. (linguistics, anthropology) (often with a capital letter) Relating to the varieties of a language or languages spoken chiefly on islands. Insular Latin, Latin as it was spoken in Britain and Ireland. Insular Celtic, the Celtic languages of Britain, Ireland and also Brittany, as opposed to those spoken in mainland Europe other than Brittany. Insular Scandinavian, relating to the Icelandic and Faroese languages as opposed to the ones spoken in Sweden, Denmark and Norway.

Derived terms

• adipoinsular
• circuminsular
• enteroinsular
• frontoinsular
• insular gray fox
• insularity
• insularization
• insularize
• insularly
• insular Spaniard
• insular tameness
• interinsular
• microinsular
• monoinsular
• noninsular
• operculoinsular
• palaeoinsular
• parainsular
• parietoinsular
• periinsular
• perinsular
• retroinsular
• septinsular
• subinsular
• transinsular
• uninsular

 

Related terms

• insularism
• insulate
• insulation
• insulator
• isolate
• isolation
• isolator
• peninsula

 

Translations

of, pertaining to, or resembling an island or islands

• Arabic: جَزَرِيّ (jazariyy)
• Armenian: կղզային (hy) (kġzayin), կղզու (hy) (kġzu)
• Belarusian: астраўны́ (astraŭný), вы́спавы (výspavy), вы́спенны (výspjenny)
• Bulgarian: о́стровен (óstroven)
• Catalan: insular
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 島的 / 岛的 (zh) (dǎo de)

• Czech: ostrovní (cs)
• Esperanto: insula (eo)
• Estonian: saare- (et)
• Finnish: saari- (fi), saaristo- (fi) (of or pertaining); saarimainen (resembling)
• French: insulaire (fr)
• Galician: insular (gl)
• German: Insel- (de)
• Greek: νησιώτικος (el) (nisiótikos)
• Hindi: द्वीपीय (dvīpīya), जज़ीराई (jazīrāī), टापूई (ṭāpūī)
• Italian: insulare (it), isolano (it)
• Japanese: 島の (ja) (shima no)
• Korean: 섬의 (ko) (seomui)
• Latin: insularis
• Macedonian: островски (ostrovski)
• Malay: pulau (ms), kepulauan (ms), pulau (ms)
• Polish: wyspowy (pl), wyspiarski (pl)
• Portuguese: insular (pt) m or f
• Romanian: insular (ro)
• Russian: островно́й (ru) (ostrovnój)
• Slovak: ostrovný (sk)
• Spanish: insular (es)
• Swedish: insulär (sv), ö- (sv)
• Ukrainian: острівни́й (ostrivnýj)
• Vietnamese: đảo (vi), hòn đảo
• Volapük: nisulik (vo)

situated on an island

• Belarusian: астраўны́ (astraŭný), вы́спавы (výspavy), вы́спенны (výspjenny)
• Bulgarian: о́стровен (óstroven)
• Finnish: saari- (fi)
• Galician: insular (gl)
• Portuguese: insular (pt) m or f
• Russian: островно́й (ru) (ostrovnój)
• Spanish: insular (es)
• Swedish: insulär (sv), ö- (sv)
• Ukrainian: острівни́й (ostrivnýj)

separate or isolated from the surroundings

• Bulgarian: изоли́ран (bg) (izolíran)
• Catalan: aïllat (ca), isolat (ca)
• Finnish: eristynyt
• Galician: illado
• Japanese: 切り離された (ja) (kirihanasareta), 孤立した (ja) (koritsu shita)
• Macedonian: ограден (ograden)
• Portuguese: isolado (pt) m, isolada (pt) f
• Romanian: izolat (ro)
• Russian: за́мкнутый (ru) (zámknutyj), огоро́женный (ru) (ogoróžennyj), ограни́ченный (ru) (ograníčennyj), изоли́рованный (ru) (izolírovannyj)
• Swedish: isolerad (sv), avskild (sv)

having an inward-looking manner

• Finnish: ahdasmielinen (fi), ennakkoluuloinen (fi)
• Italian: limitato (it), ristretto (it), di corte vedute, di vedute ristrette, chiuso in sé
• Japanese: 島国根性の (shimaguni konjō no), 偏狭な (ja) (henkyō na)
• Macedonian: тесноград (tesnograd)
• Russian: за́мкнутый (ru) (zámknutyj)
• Swedish: tillbakadragen (sv)

relating to the insula in the brain

• Finnish: aivosaaren, insulaarinen

linguistics, anthropology

• Finnish: saari- (fi), insulaarinen

Noun

insular (plural insulars)

1. An islander.
   • 1744, George Berkeley, Siris, a chain of philosophical reflections and inquiries, concerning the virtues of tar-water:

     these insulars in general live in a gross saline air , and their vessels being less elastic are consequently less able to subdue and cast off what their bodies as sponges draw in

Further reading

• “insular”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• urinals

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin īnsulāris.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [in.suˈlar]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [in.suˈla]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [in.suˈlaɾ]

Adjective

insular m or f (masculine and feminine plural insulars)

1. insular

   Synonym: illenc

Related terms

• illa

Portuguese

Etymology 1

Learned borrowing from Latin īnsulāris.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ĩ.suˈlaʁ/ [ĩ.suˈlah]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ĩ.suˈlaʁ/ [ĩ.suˈlah]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ĩ.suˈlaɾ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ĩ.suˈlaʁ/ [ĩ.suˈlaχ]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ĩ.suˈlaɻ/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩ.suˈlaɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩ.suˈlaɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩ.suˈla.ɾi/

• Homophone: insolar (Portugal)
• Hyphenation: in‧su‧lar

Adjective

insular m or f (plural insulares)

1. insular

Etymology 2

From ínsula +‎ -ar. Piecewise doublet of ilhar and isolar.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ĩ.suˈla(ʁ)/ [ĩ.suˈla(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ĩ.suˈla(ʁ)/ [ĩ.suˈla(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ĩ.suˈla(ɾ)/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ĩ.suˈla(ʁ)/ [ĩ.suˈla(χ)]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ĩ.suˈla(ɻ)/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩ.suˈlaɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩ.suˈlaɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩ.suˈla.ɾi/

• Homophone: insolar (Portugal)
• Hyphenation: in‧su‧lar

Verb

insular (first-person singular present insulo, first-person singular preterite insulei, past participle insulado)

1. to isolate
2. (physics) to insulate

Conjugation

    Conjugation of insular (See Appendix:Portuguese verbs)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	insular
Personal	insular	insulares	insular	insularmos	insulardes	insularem
Gerund
	insulando
Past participle
Masculine	insulado			insulados
Feminine	insulada			insuladas
Indicative
Present	insulo	insulas	insula	insulamos	insulais	insulam
Imperfect	insulava	insulavas	insulava	insulávamos	insuláveis	insulavam
Preterite	insulei	insulaste	insulou	insulamos1, insulámos2	insulastes	insularam
Pluperfect	insulara	insularas	insulara	insuláramos	insuláreis	insularam
Future	insularei	insularás	insulará	insularemos	insulareis	insularão
Conditional	insularia	insularias	insularia	insularíamos	insularíeis	insulariam
Subjunctive
Present	insule	insules	insule	insulemos	insuleis	insulem
Imperfect	insulasse	insulasses	insulasse	insulássemos	insulásseis	insulassem
Future	insular	insulares	insular	insularmos	insulardes	insularem
Imperative
Affirmative		insula	insule	insulemos	insulai	insulem
Negative (não)		não insules	não insule	não insulemos	não insuleis	não insulem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French insulaire, from Latin insularis. By surface analysis, insulă +‎ -ar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /insuˈlar/

Adjective

insular m or n (feminine singular insulară, masculine plural insulari, feminine and neuter plural insulare)

1. insular

Declension

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	insular		insulară		insulari	insulare
	definite	insularul		insulara		insularii	insularele
genitive- dative	indefinite	insular		insulare		insulari	insulare
	definite	insularului		insularei		insularilor	insularelor

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin īnsulāris.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /insuˈlaɾ/ [ĩn.suˈlaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: in‧su‧lar

Adjective

insular m or f (masculine and feminine plural insulares)

1. of, pertaining to, being, or resembling an island or islands

Noun

insular m or f by sense (plural insulares)

1. islander
2. (Philippines, obsolete, historical) Philippine-born person of pure or majority Spanish descent

   Synonyms: filipino, filipina, castellano, español

   Coordinate terms: peninsular, criollo, americano

Related terms

• ínsula
• isla
• peninsular

 

Further reading

• “insular”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10