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Isthmus of Darien

Isthmus of Darien

9.6
An old name for the narrow piece of land joining Central America and South America
  • proper noun
  • Literature
translation icon : Istmo de Darién
  • The Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa was the first European to cross the Isthmus of Darien and reach the Pacific Ocean.

Examples

  • Morse, in fact, devoted one of the first three pages of his section on North America to its "Boundaries and Extent." In the bounding process, he pointed out that it is north of the "Isthmus of Darien" (Panama), west of the "Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean," etc. (p. 50).

    Academic text (1990)

  • The construction of the Panama Canal transformed the significance of the Isthmus of Darien for global shipping.

  • The Isthmus of Darien played a crucial role in the trade routes between the Americas during the Age of Exploration.

Synonyms

Isthmus of Panama
vsIsthmus of Darien
4.7

A narrow strip of land that connects Central and South America and separates the Caribbean Sea from the Pacific Ocean

is the older historical name for that same landform

Surface Forms

Isthmus of Darien main

Morphology

isthmus + of + Darien

The phrase is a straightforward possessive/location construction: 'isthmus' (narrow land bridge) + 'of' + a place name 'Darien' indicates the land bridge at Darien. A B1 learner who knows the word 'isthmus' and understands 'of' plus a place name will readily infer it refers to a specific isthmus (even if they do not know the historical equivalence with Panama).

Etymology

Isthmus of Darien combines isthmus, a narrow strip of land, with Darien, the local region early explorers crossed. Because explorers like Balboa crossed this narrow strip, people used the name for the land that joins Central and South America, which is now usually called the 'Isthmus of Panama'.