Mainland

Pronunciation

• GenAm IPA: /ˈmeɪ̪nlÉ™nd/

Origin

From main + land. Compare Scots mayn-land, magan-land, madin-land ("mainland"), Faroese meginland ("mainland"), Icelandic meginland ("mainland").

Noun

1. The main landmass of a country or continent
• 1719: Daniel Defoe, ...I got to the mainland, where, to my great comfort, I clambered up the cliffs of the shore and sat me down upon the grass, free from danger and quite out of the reach of the water.
• 2005: commentYou may have not realised when I was using the term mainland Europe, I was excluding the British Isles.