Meanings
- A tidal island off the northeast coast of England, constituting the civil parish of Holy Island in Northumberland; once an important centre of Celtic Christianity.
Synonyms: Holy Island
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounA tidal island off the northeast coast of England, constituting the civil parish of Holy Island in Northumberland; once an important centre of Celtic Christianity.
Origin
- Old Irishlind“lake”
- Old Englishfarena
- Old EnglishLindisfarena
- EnglishLindisfarne
Uncertain (but cf. Farne Islands). From Old English Lindisfarena. It is thought the first element refers to the Lindsey area of Lincolnshire (from Old English Lindesēġe). The second element -farne may be from Old English farena, genitive plural of fara (“traveller”). Thus a plausible translation of the full name would be, "island of the travellers to and from Lindsey". Coates argued for an Old Irish origin with from fearann (“territory”), with the first part being Old Irish lind (“lake”) + -as; perhaps based on an equivalent Proto-Brythonic formation.
More words from Old English, Old Irish
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Lindisfarne. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Lindisfarne
“Lindisfarne.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Lindisfarne. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Lindisfarne,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Lindisfarne.
Source: Lindisfarne on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.