Hebrew iyim, from aawah, "to inhabit." Shore land at opposed to sea, dry land as opposed to rivers. Isa_42:15, "I will make the rivers islands." God will dry up the fountains of the pagan idolatry and oracles, i.e. their schools, doctrines, and institutions, the symbol of which is, water (Vitringa). So the word is applied to all lands reached from Palestine by sea. Jer_25:22, "the isles which are beyond the sea." Gen_10:5, "the isles of the Gentiles" (Psa_72:10; Isa_41:5; Zep_2:11). Also Chittim, i.e. Cyprus and Mediterranean coasts (Jer_2:10; Num_24:24; Jer_47:4 margin, "the isle of Caphtor," i.e. Crete).
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.