The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
ISLAND
Definition of ISLAND
noun
A contiguous area of land, smaller than a continent, totally surrounded by water.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From earlier iland, from Middle English iland, yland, ylond, from Old English īeġland, from Proto-West Germanic *auwjuland, from Proto-Germanic *awjōlandą (from Proto-Germanic *awjō (“island, waterland, meadow”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ekʷeh₂) + *landą (“land”), equivalent to ey + land. Doublet of Öland. Cognate with Scots island, iland, yland (“island”), West Frisian eilân (“island”), Saterland Frisian Ailound (“island”), Dutch eiland (“island”), Low German Eiland (“island”), German Eiland (“island”), Swedish ö (“island”), Öland (“Sweden's second largest island”), Danish ø (“island”), Norwegian øy (“island”), øyland (“large island”), Icelandic eyland (“island”). The insertion of ⟨s⟩—a 16th century spelling modification—is due to a change in spelling to the unrelated term isle, which previously lacked s (cf. Middle English ile, yle). The re-addition was mistakenly carried over to include iland as well. Related also to German Aue (“water-meadow”), Latin aqua (“water”). More at ea.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
4 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
3rd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
8.8%
of traced words share this origin (2,662)
How it is built
Same root, ISLAND · 1 relative in the game
Its etymology also names Danish, Dutch, Icelandic, Latin, Norwegian, Scots, Swedish.
Every Proto-Indo-European word → · The Word DNA of OUTLIER →
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
ISLAND in OUTLIER
It has fitted 2 boards so far. 28 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 127, 24 September 2026. The most recent board was Day 151, 18 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 3 days.
First found by a player on Day 26, 15 June 2026.
Built from these letters
ISLAND starts with I and ends with D. Sorted, its letters read ADILNS - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that start ISLAND
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found ISLAND?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 127 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER