Meanings
Snake Island1
- Any of several islands with the name.
Synonyms: Snake
Snake Island2
- An island in Budjak, on the Black Sea, at the Danue Delta, Danube River in Odesa Oblast, Ukraine, on the border with Romania.
Ukrainian troops have landed on Snake Island where they raised Ukraine’s flag, according to officials, one week after Russian forces withdrew from the strategic islet in the Black Sea.
2022 July 7, “Ukrainian troops land on Snake Island to raise national flag”, in Al Jazeera, archived from the original on 07 Jul 20223 more examples
SNAKE ISLAND Located in the northwestern side of the Black Sea, Snake Island, or called ostriv Zmiyinyy in Ukrainian and Insula Serpilor in Romanian, is currently administered by Ukraine but claimed by Romania. The Snake Island is a limestone formation located 35 km from the coast, east of the mouth of the Danube River.
2006, Rongxing Guo, Territorial Disputes and Resource Management: A Global Handbook, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 224In the Snake Island case, the court ruled that Snake Island—which is a territory of Ukraine, but is in the Black Sea on the maritime boundary with Romania— would not be given a full exclusive economic zone (EEZ) because that would distort the maritime boundary with Romania. In this way, the court ensured an equitable result of the maritime boundary between Romania and Ukraine.
2013 June, Michael A. McDevitt, Catherine K. Lea, Japan's Territorial Disputes: CNA Maritime Asia Project, Workshop Three, CNA, →OCLC, page 9The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine said in a statement posted to its Facebook page that the guards may be alive, after Russian media reported that they were taken as prisoners from their base on Snake Island in the Black Sea to Sevastopol, a port city that Russia controls on the Crimean Peninsula.
2022 February 26, Dan Lamothe, “Ukrainian border guards may have survived reported last stand on Snake Island”, in Washington Post, archived from the original on 28 Feb 2022Synonyms: Fidonisi, Serpent, Serpent Island, Snake, Zmiinyi, Zmiinyi Island
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounAny of several islands with the name.
proper nounAn island in Budjak, on the Black Sea, at the Danue Delta, Danube River in Odesa Oblast, Ukraine, on the border with Romania.
Origin
Snake Island · proper noun
- Medieval Greekφιδο“snake”
- Medieval GreekΦιδονήσι“Snake Isle”
- RomanianInsula Șerpilor“Serpent Island”
- Russianо́стров Змеи́ный“Snake Island”
- Ukrainianо́стрів Змії́ний“Snake Island”
- EnglishSnake Island
Calque of Ukrainian о́стрів Змії́ний (óstriv Zmijínyj, “Snake Island”) or Russian о́стров Змеи́ный (óstrov Zmeínyj, “Snake Island”), from Romanian Insula Șerpilor (“Serpent Island”), from Medieval Greek Φιδονήσι (Phidonḗsi, “Snake Isle”), from Medieval Greek φιδο (phido, “snake”) (Greek φίδι (fídi)) + νήσι (nísi, “island”).
More words from Ukrainian, Russian, Romanian
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek Ἀχιλλέως νῆσος, Ἀχίλλεια νῆσος
- Ἀχιλλέως νῆσος (Akhilléōs nêsos)Black Sea island of Ukraine bordering Romania
- Ἀχίλλεια νῆσος (Akhílleia nêsos)Black Sea island of Ukraine bordering Romania
- Δρόμον Ἀχιλλέως (Drómon Akhilléōs)Black Sea island of Ukraine bordering Romania
- Ἀχίλλειος δρόμος (Akhílleios drómos)Black Sea island of Ukraine bordering Romania
Arabic جَزِيرَةُ الثُّعْبَان
- جَزِيرَةُ الثُّعْبَان (jazīratu ṯ-ṯuʕbān)Black Sea island of Ukraine bordering Romania
Bulgarian Зми́йски о́стров
- Зми́йски о́стров (Zmíjski óstrov)Black Sea island of Ukraine bordering Romania
Chinese Cantonese 蛇島 /蛇岛
- 蛇島 /蛇岛 (se⁴ dou²)Black Sea island of Ukraine bordering Romania
Chinese Mandarin 蛇島 /蛇岛
- 蛇島 /蛇岛 (Shé dǎo)Black Sea island of Ukraine bordering Romania
Danish Slangeøen
- SlangeøenBlack Sea island of Ukraine bordering Romania
Dutch Slangeneiland
- SlangeneilandBlack Sea island of Ukraine bordering Romania
French île des Serpents
- île des SerpentsBlack Sea island of Ukraine bordering Romania
German Schlangeninsel
- SchlangeninselBlack Sea island of Ukraine bordering Romania
Greek Φιδονήσι
- Φιδονήσι (Fidonísi)Black Sea island of Ukraine bordering Romania
Hungarian Kígyó-sziget
- Kígyó-szigetBlack Sea island of Ukraine bordering Romania
Japanese ズミイヌイ島
- ズミイヌイ島 (Zumiinui tō)Black Sea island of Ukraine bordering Romania
Korean 즈미이니섬
- 즈미이니섬 (Jeumiiniseom)Black Sea island of Ukraine bordering Romania
Latin Achillēa īnsula, Achillēa
- Achillēa īnsulaBlack Sea island of Ukraine bordering Romania
- AchillēaBlack Sea island of Ukraine bordering Romania
- Alba īnsulaBlack Sea island of Ukraine bordering Romania
- Īnsula serpentiumBlack Sea island of Ukraine bordering Romania
Lithuanian Gyvačių sala
- Gyvačių salaBlack Sea island of Ukraine bordering Romania
Polish Wyspa Wężowa
- Wyspa WężowaBlack Sea island of Ukraine bordering Romania
Portuguese Ilha da Serpente
- Ilha da SerpenteBlack Sea island of Ukraine bordering Romania
Romanian Insula Șerpilor
- Insula ȘerpilorBlack Sea island of Ukraine bordering Romania
Russian Змеи́ный, о́стров Змеи́ный
- Змеи́ный (Zmeínyj)Black Sea island of Ukraine bordering Romania
- о́стров Змеи́ный (óstrov Zmeínyj)Black Sea island of Ukraine bordering Romania
- Змеи́ный о́стров (Zmeínyj óstrov)Black Sea island of Ukraine bordering Romania
Spanish isla de las Serpientes
- isla de las SerpientesBlack Sea island of Ukraine bordering Romania
Turkish Yılan Adası
- Yılan AdasıBlack Sea island of Ukraine bordering Romania
Ukrainian Змії́ний, о́стрів Змії́ний
- Змії́ний (Zmijínyj)Black Sea island of Ukraine bordering Romania
- о́стрів Змії́ний (óstriv Zmijínyj)Black Sea island of Ukraine bordering Romania
- Змії́ний о́стрів (Zmijínyj óstriv)Black Sea island of Ukraine bordering Romania
Cite this entry
Snake Island. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Snake%20Island
“Snake Island.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Snake%20Island. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Snake Island,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Snake%20Island.
Source: Snake Island on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.