islet

/ˈaɪlət/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈaɪlət/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈī-lət/ (ame, mw)

islet — 名詞

  • isletsingular
  • isletsplural

1. a very small piece of land, smaller than a typical island, that is completely su

1.名詞B1
釋義

小島

比一般島嶼更小的島

a very small piece of land, smaller than a typical island, that is completely surrounded by water, especially one found in a lake, river, or near the coast of a larger body of water.

例句

Hugo rowed his small boat out to the rocky islet where his grandfather kept a fishing hut.

Hugo 划著小船來到那座岩石小島，他祖父曾在那裡保留一間漁屋。

rowed to [destination]: movement toward an islet

Wei and his sister walked across the wet sand at low tide to explore the tiny islet.

Wei 和妹妹趁退潮時走過濕沙灘，去探索那座小島。

同義詞
  • island

    the general term for any land surrounded by water; 'island' is far more common and can describe land of any size

  • isle

    a literary or poetic term for island; often used in place names (e.g. the Isle of Wight)

  • cay

    a very small, low island formed on a coral reef, found in tropical regions

  • key

    a regional variant of 'cay', used in the Caribbean (e.g. the Florida Keys)

反義詞
  • mainland

    a large continuous landmass, the opposite of any island

  • continent

    a very large landmass; contrasts strongly with the tiny scale of an islet

文法句型

islet + prepositional phrase

常見錯誤

❌They bought a house on a small islet in the Caribbean.
✅They bought a house on a small island in the Caribbean.
💡'Islet' is unusual for inhabited land; English speakers use 'island' for all sizes unless describing a tiny, often uninhabited piece of land.

2. a cluster of cells inside the pancreas that produce hormones such as insulin and

2.名詞C1
釋義

胰島

胰臟中分泌激素的細胞群

a cluster of cells inside the pancreas that produce hormones such as insulin and glucagon, which regulate the level of sugar in the blood; also called an islet of Langerhans.

例句

Dr. Kim explained that the islets in the pancreas are like tiny factories producing insulin day and night.

Kim 醫師解釋說，胰臟中的胰島就像日以繼夜生產胰島素的微小工廠。

metaphor: islets compared to factories producing insulin

During her check-up, Dr. Nakamura showed Mei the scan of her pancreas and explained that her immune cells were destroying the islets.

在健康檢查時，中村醫師向 Mei 展示她胰臟的掃描圖，並解釋說她的免疫細胞正在破壞胰島。

medical context: immune system attacking pancreatic islets in diabetes

同義詞
  • pancreatic islets

    the full medical term, used interchangeably with 'islets' in clinical contexts

  • islets of Langerhans

    the formal anatomical name, commonly used in textbooks and medical literature

文法句型

islet + of + proper noun (Langerhans)

the + (plural) islets

用法筆記

Frequently in the plural form 'islets' when referring to the pancreas as a whole. The phrase 'islets of Langerhans' is the standard medical name, named after the German pathologist Paul Langerhans who discovered them in 1869.

常見錯誤

❌Diabetes affects the islets in the stomach.
✅Diabetes affects the islets in the pancreas.
💡Islets are located in the pancreas, not the stomach.