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Glite Dictionary
Saint Kitts

Saint Kitts

4.1
A large Caribbean island that, with Nevis, makes the country Saint Kitts and Nevis
  • proper noun
  • /seɪnt kɪts/
translation icon : San Cristóbal
  • The capital of Saint Kitts is Basseterre.

Examples

  • We spent our vacation relaxing on the beaches of Saint Kitts.

  • Have you ever been to Saint Kitts?

  • Many cruise ships dock at Saint Kitts during their Caribbean routes.

  • I visited Saint Kitts last summer.

  • Many cruise ships dock at Saint Kitts during their Caribbean routes.

  • The capital of Saint Kitts is Basseterre.

  • We spent our vacation relaxing on the beaches of Saint Kitts.

Synonyms

St. Christopher
vsSaint Kitts
6.0

The largest island of Saint Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean

is the common modern name rather than the traditional variant
Saint Christopher
vsSaint Kitts
6.3

The largest island of Saint Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean Sea

is the simpler everyday name rather than the formal full name
St. Kitts
vsSaint Kitts
3.9

An island in the Caribbean with beaches and a capital called Basseterre

is the official longer form rather than the short informal label

Surface Forms

Saint Kitts main

Morphology

saint + Kitts

This is a proper-name composition where 'Saint' signals a place named after a saint, a pattern common cross-linguistically, so a learner who knows the constituents can infer it is a toponym. However, 'Kitts' is a proper name without lexical meaning, and the specific referent (that it is the larger of the two main islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis) cannot be derived from the parts alone.

Etymology

Saint Kitts may come from the old name 'Saint Christopher' because early settlers and sailors often called 'Christopher' by the short name Kitts or 'Kitt'. That's why Saint Kitts is the name of the island today.