Sakhalin

//ˌsækəˈliːn// name

name ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    The largest island of Russia, off its eastern coast.

    "SAGHALIN, or SAKHALIN, is the name improperly given to a large elongated island in the North Pacific, lying between 45° 57' and 54° 24' N. lat. and 141° 30' and 144° 50' E. long., off the coast of Russian Manchuria. Its proper name is Karaftu, or Karafuto."

  2. 2
    An oblast of Russia, located on the island.

Example

More examples

"SAGHALIN, or SAKHALIN, is the name improperly given to a large elongated island in the North Pacific, lying between 45° 57' and 54° 24' N. lat. and 141° 30' and 144° 50' E. long., off the coast of Russian Manchuria. Its proper name is Karaftu, or Karafuto."

Etymology

From Russian Сахали́н (Saxalín), which was borrowed from Manchu ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ (sahaliyan, “black”), probably from the expression Manchu ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ ᡠᠯᠠ ᠠᠩᡤᠠ ᡥᠠᡩᠠ (sahaliyan ula angga hada, “the peak at the estuary of the Amur river (literally: black river)”). Ultimately from Proto-Tungusic *sakalīn (“black”).

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.