insular

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Not interested in new ideas or in people outside your own group; narrow-minded.

   Living in such a remote village made the community rather insular.

2. 2
   adj

   Relating to or living on an island.

   The country governs several small insular territories in the Pacific.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Insular goes back to Latin insula, meaning “island.” It first appeared in English in the mid-16th century as a noun for an islander; the adjective later acquired the figurative sense “narrow-minded,” reflecting a stereotype that islanders knew little beyond their own surroundings.

Learned borrowing from Latin īnsulāris (“of or belonging to an island”), from īnsula (“an island”), of uncertain origin.

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External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary