- a narrow strip of land projecting into a sea or lake from the mainland
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
pen•in•su•la /pəˈnɪnsələ, -ˈnɪnsyələ/USA pronunciation
n. [countable], pl. -las.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- an area of land almost surrounded by water.
pen•in•su•la
(pə nin′sə lə, -nins′yə lə),USA pronunciation n.
pen•in′su•lar, adj.
pen•in′su•lar•ism, pen•in•su•lar•i•ty
(pə nin′sə lar′i tē, -nins′yə-),USA pronunciation n.
- an area of land almost completely surrounded by water except for an isthmus connecting it with the mainland.
- Place Names the Peninsula:
- Spain and Portugal together; Iberian Peninsula;
Iberia. - a district in SE Virginia between the York and James rivers: Civil War battles.
- Spain and Portugal together; Iberian Peninsula;
- Latin paenīnsula, equivalent. to paen- pen- + īnsula island
- 1530–40
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
peninsula /pɪˈnɪnsjʊlə/ n
The noun peninsula is sometimes confused with the adjective peninsular: the Iberian peninsula (not peninsular)
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
Peninsula n
- the Peninsula ⇒ short for the Iberian Peninsula
'peninsula' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Aden
- Adriatic Sea
- Alaska
- Alaska Peninsula
- Albania
- Aleutian Islands
- Anatolia
- Andaman Sea
- Aniakchak
- Antarctic Peninsula
- Apennines
- Arabia
- Arabian Desert
- Athos
- Baja California Sur
- Balkan
- Balkan Peninsula
- Balkan States
- Basse-Normandie
- Bataan
- Beaker folk
- Bight
- Black Isle
- Blanc
- Bon
- Boothia Peninsula
- Brittany
- Bulgaria
- Bute
- Cádiz
- Cambay
- Campeche
- Cancún
- Cape Cod
- Cape Flats
- Cape Peninsula
- Cape York
- Carpentaria
- Chalcidice
- Chelyuskin
- Constantia
- Crimea
- Dakar
- Dalian
- Deccan
- Delaware
- Delmarva Peninsula
- Dezhnev
- dishdasha
- Doha