Island not Island

[TiggerToo]

What is the proper geographical name for an island that is not really an island, but joined to the mainland by an isthmus? Like the Presquile de Giens, for example

 

[prv]

Headland? Promontory? Sticky-out bit?

Pete

 

[Flossdog]

Portland is always referred to as the Isle of Portland, even though it's not.

 

[chewi]

peninsula?

 

[TiggerToo]

peninsula?

no. The Lizard is a peninsula.... I am thinking "more of an island"...

 

[Salty John]

Tombolo

 

[fantasia7628]

I think peninsula is probably the correct term. The Lizard is not a true peninsula, the word means almost an island, which I think is what you are describing.

 

[macd]

I'm pretty sure there's no single-word English expression for 'almost an island'...nor is there in French, hence their clumsy conjunction of "nearly" and "island" in presqu'ile, a trait they share with Turkish and no doubt other languages. French has a perfectly good word for a less extreme peninsula: péninsule. In English it's simply a peninsula with a very thin neck.

 

[prv]

I'm pretty sure there's no single-word English expression for 'almost an island'...nor is there in French, hence their clumsy conjunction of "nearly" and "island" in presqu'ile, a trait they share with Turkish and no doubt other languages. French has a perfectly good word for a less extreme peninsula: péninsule. In English it's simply a peninsula with a very thin neck.

But as Fantasia says, peninsula itself literally means "almost an island". Insula is latin for island, pen- is a prefix meaning "almost", as in penultimate, "almost the last".

Pete

 

[Salty John]

A tombolo is an island connected to the mainland by an isthmus.

 

[Babylon]

A tombolo is an island connected to the mainland by an isthmus.

Except when you're pished and can't say it properly, in which case you say 'causeway' instead.

 

[Vara]

Peninsular.

 

[Searush]

A tombolo is an island connected to the mainland by an isthmus.

Your wasting your time, John, no-one is listening . . .

 

[Salty John]

I got the message!

 

[Cymrogwyllt]

Llanddwyn is regarded as an island even though it is an island only on the big springs for a few minutes

 

[blackbeard]

Is an island still an island after a bridge is constructed? If so, is Portsea an island? (presumably yes, though this might surprise its inhabitants).
Is Portland an island, given that no one wants to trudge along ten miles of shingle?
Is that peninsula known as the Isle of Purbeck an island, if the locals say that it is?

 

[Baggywrinkle]

The French have a great description like "Presqu'ile de Quiberon" .... almost island.

Much better description than we have in English.

 

[DaveS]

Is an island still an island after a bridge is constructed? If so, is Portsea an island? (presumably yes, though this might surprise its inhabitants).
Is Portland an island, given that no one wants to trudge along ten miles of shingle?
Is that peninsula known as the Isle of Purbeck an island, if the locals say that it is?

It's an interesting point for debate. Hamish Haswell-Smith (The Scottish Islands) takes the view that to be a true island there must be no means (other than using aircraft) of reaching it dry shod at any state of tide. Thus structures like causeways, bridges and tunnels negate island status. Following this rule Scalpay, Skye, and the British mainland can no longer be considered islands. I personally take the more pragmatic view that if I can sail a boat with a fixed keel and a sizeable mast all the way round somewhere at any state of tide then that somewhere is in practical terms an island.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Only if the connection is formed by accumulation of sediment between the island and the mainland, usually by a mechanism such as longshore drift.

As prv has noted, peninsula means exactly what the OP wants.

 

[chewi]

It's an interesting point for debate. Hamish Haswell-Smith (The Scottish Islands) takes the view that to be a true island there must be no means (other than using aircraft) of reaching it dry shod at any state of tide. Thus structures like causeways, bridges and tunnels negate island status. Following this rule Scalpay, Skye, and the British mainland can no longer be considered islands. I personally take the more pragmatic view that if I can sail a boat with a fixed keel and a sizeable mast all the way round somewhere at any state of tide then that somewhere is in practical terms an island.

that works... until somebody builds a bridge that obstructs your sizeable mast!