Why is the s in island silent?
The silent s in island was not inherited from the word’s original pronunciation. It was added later because scholars mistakenly associated island with the unrelated word isle.
Island originally had no s
The English word developed from Old English forms related to land surrounded by water. Its spelling and pronunciation did not require an s. In the early modern period, writers inserted one under the influence of isle, a word that came through French from Latin.
An etymological misunderstanding
The two words were similar in meaning, but they did not share the origin scholars assumed. The new spelling caught on, while everyday pronunciation ignored the added letter. Every modern island therefore preserves an old scholarly error.
Nederlandse uitleg
In het Nederlands: de s werd later toegevoegd door een verkeerde koppeling met isle. De letter hoorde niet bij de oorspronkelijke uitspraak en bleef daarom stil.
Try it yourself
Compare island /ˈaɪ.lənd/ with isle /aɪl/. Both have a silent s, but do not copy the spelling into Iceland, where the s sound is pronounced.
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Source: Merriam-Webster. Featured photograph by Brett Jordan on Unsplash.