Zetland
name ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Until 1974, the official name for the Shetland Islands. historical
"That long, narrow, and irregular island, usually called the Main-Land of Zetland, because it is by far the largest of that Archipelago, terminates, as is well known to the mariners who navigate the stormy seas which surround the Thule of the ancients, in a cliff of tremendous height, entitled Sumburgh-Head, which presents its bare scalp and naked sides to the weight of a tremendous surge, and forms the extreme point of the isle to the south-east."
- 2 An inner southern suburb of the City of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, named after Thomas Dundas, 2nd Earl of Zetland.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"That long, narrow, and irregular island, usually called the Main-Land of Zetland, because it is by far the largest of that Archipelago, terminates, as is well known to the mariners who navigate the stormy seas which surround the Thule of the ancients, in a cliff of tremendous height, entitled Sumburgh-Head, which presents its bare scalp and naked sides to the weight of a tremendous surge, and forms the extreme point of the isle to the south-east."
Etymology
Spelling pronunciation of Middle Scots Ȝetland with the letter ⟨ȝ⟩ confused with ⟨z⟩.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.