Inland

How to spell inland

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce inland

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does inland mean?

1. adjectiveSituated in the interior of a country, away from the coast or a border.
2. adverbIn a direction toward the interior of a country, away from the sea.

Inland in a sentence

• adjective

  The family moved to a quiet inland town far from the beach.

• adverb

  The survivors walked inland for three days until they found a road.

• adjective

  Shipping costs rise for goods sent to remote inland regions.

• adverb

  Warm air pushed inland from the ocean overnight.

Where does inland come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Inland is a native English compound, built from the everyday words 'in' and 'land', both of which descend from Old English. The element 'land' meant ground, soil, or a defined territory, while 'in' carried its usual sense of position within something. Joined together as 'inland' in Old English, the word originally referred to the part of an estate kept and farmed directly by its lord, the home land as opposed to outlying holdings. Over time the meaning broadened to describe any region lying in the interior of a country, away from the sea or border. Because both parts are common Germanic words, the spelling is straightforward, a simple doubling of two familiar pieces with no silent letters to trip over.

How the word is built

• in- (in, inside)
• land (ground, country, from Old English land)