Meanings
proper noun
- An atoll in the Tokelau island chain.
Origin
Captain William L. Hudson of the USS Peacock saw the island in 1841, and claimed to have learned its location from a certain Captain Swain of Nantucket. The apostrophe in Swain's was later dropped.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
Swains Island. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Swains%20Island
MLA
“Swains Island.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Swains%20Island. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Swains Island,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Swains%20Island.
Source: Swains Island on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.