floating island

English

A floating island served at a restaurant in Singapore

Etymology

Calque of French île flottante.

Noun

floating island (plural floating islands)

1. An aggregation of driftwood and roots, or vegetation, capable of bearing soil, which floats on the surface of (bog or lake) water or is floated out from a river delta or similar.
   • 2010, C. Barry Cox, Peter D. Moore, Biogeography: An Ecological and Evolutionary Approach‎^[1], page 225:

     Such a floating island could carry small animals such as frogs, lizards, or rats, the resistant eggs of other animals, and specimens of plants not adapted to oceanic dispersal.

2. A French cold dessert consisting of an "island" of meringue, made of egg whites and sugar, floating in a "sea" of custard.
3. Synonym of kitchen island
   • 2006, Trends Very Best Kitchens & Bathrooms, page 69:

     The floating island doubles as a place for the children to do their homework and eat meals.

Hyponyms

• camalote, kirta, phumdi

Translations

an aggregation of driftwood, roots, etc.

• Faroese: flotoyggj
• Finnish: lautta (fi)
• Italian: isola galleggiante f
• Norwegian: flyteholme
• Russian: лижма (ližma)
• Swedish: flottholme

a dessert

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 漂浮島／漂浮岛

• Finnish: marenkipalloja vaniljakastikkeessa
• French: île flottante (fr) f, œufs à la neige (fr) m pl
• German: Schnee-Eier n pl, Vogelmilch f
• Hungarian: madártej (hu)
• Italian: île flottante f, isola galleggiante f
• Luxembourgish: Eeërcrème mat Schnéi (lb) f
• Polish: zupa nic (pl) f
• Russian: плавающий остров (plavajuščij ostrov)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: šnenokle (sh) f pl

• Ukrainian: плаваючий острів m (plavajučyj ostriv)

See also

• flotant, sudd

Further reading

• Floating island on Wikipedia.Wikipedia