peninsula

Part of Italy is a peninsula, and it's a pretty famous one, because it looks like a boot. A peninsula juts into the water but has at least a narrow a connection to land. If the boot broke off from Italy just below the "knee," it would be an island.

The word peninsula, which entered English in the 16th century, comes from the Latin words paene, "almost," and insula, "island." Some confuse an island with a peninsula because both are surrounded by so much water, but a peninsula is connected to a mainland at some point, while an island is completely encircled by water. In most cases, a peninsula is narrow and long, resembling an arm or leg.

Definitions of peninsula
  1. noun
    a large mass of land projecting into a body of water
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    examples:
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    Asia Minor
    a peninsula in southwestern Asia that forms the Asian part of Turkey
    Balkan Peninsula
    a large peninsula in southeastern Europe containing the Balkan Mountain Range
    Indochinese peninsula
    a peninsula of southeastern Asia that includes Myanmar and Cambodia and Laos and Malaysia and Thailand and Vietnam
    Yucatan Peninsula
    a peninsula in Central America extending into the Gulf of Mexico between the Bay of Campeche and the Caribbean Sea
    Scandinavian Peninsula
    the peninsula in northern Europe occupied by Norway and Sweden
    Jutland
    peninsula in northern Europe that forms the continental part of Denmark and a northern part of Germany
    Peloponnesian Peninsula
    the southern peninsula of Greece; dominated by Sparta until the 4th century BC
    Italian Peninsula
    a boot-shaped peninsula in southern Europe extending into the Mediterranean Sea
    Nova Scotia
    a peninsula in eastern Canada between the Bay of Fundy and the Saint Lawrence River
    Arabian Peninsula
    a peninsula between the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf; strategically important for its oil resources
    Sinai Peninsula
    a peninsula in northeastern Egypt; at north end of Red Sea
    Dae-Han-Min-Gook
    an Asian peninsula (off Manchuria) separating the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan; the Korean name is Dae-Han-Min-Gook or Han-Gook
    Malay Peninsula
    a peninsula in southeastern Asia occupied by parts of Malaysia and Thailand and Myanmar
    Iberian Peninsula
    a peninsula in southwestern Europe
    Katar Peninsula
    a peninsula extending northward from the Arabian mainland into the Persian Gulf
    Somali peninsula
    a peninsula of northeastern Africa (the easternmost part of Africa) comprising Somalia and Djibouti and Eritrea and parts of Ethiopia
    Kola Peninsula
    a peninsula in northwestern Russia projecting eastward between the Barents Sea and the White Sea
    Crimea
    a Ukrainian peninsula between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov
    Kamchatka Peninsula
    a peninsula in eastern Siberia; between Bering Sea and Sea of Okhotsk
    Taimyr Peninsula
    a peninsula in northern Siberia
    Seward Peninsula
    a peninsula in western Alaska that projects westward into the Bering Sea just below the Arctic Circle
    Cape Ann
    a Massachusetts peninsula to the north of Boston extending into the Atlantic Ocean
    Cape Cod
    a Massachusetts peninsula to the south of Boston extending into the Atlantic; a popular resort area
    Alaska Peninsula
    a peninsula of southwestern Alaska (a continuation of the Aleutian Islands)
    Antarctic Peninsula
    a large peninsula of Antarctica that extends some 1200 miles north toward South America; separates the Weddell Sea from the South Pacific
    Cape York Peninsula
    a peninsula in Queensland in northeastern Australia between the Gulf of Carpentaria and the Coral Sea
    Chukchi Peninsula
    peninsula of northeastern Siberia across the Bering Strait from northwestern Alaska
    Eyre Peninsula
    a peninsula of southern Australia
    Labrador-Ungava Peninsula
    a peninsular region of eastern Canada between Hudson Bay and the Labrador Sea; contains most of Quebec and the mainland part of Newfoundland and Labrador
    Liaodong Peninsula
    a peninsula in northeastern China that extends into the Yellow Sea, between Bo Hai and Korea Bay
    Lower California
    a mountainous peninsula on northwest Mexico
    Lower Peninsula
    the part of northern Michigan between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron
    Upper Peninsula
    the peninsula between Lake Superior and Lake Michigan that forms the northwestern part of Michigan
    type of:
    dry land, earth, ground, land, solid ground, terra firma
    the solid part of the earth's surface
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