Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • An island of western Indonesia in the Indian Ocean south of the Malay Peninsula. Long an important stopping point on the trading route between China and India, the island came under Dutch control in the 1600s, becoming part of the Dutch East Indies in 1800. Sumatra joined newly independent Indonesia in 1949.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A sudden squall occurring in the narrow sea between the Malay peninsula and the island of Sumatra.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun The largest island of Indonesia.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a mountainous island in western Indonesia

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Mentioned in the 11th century in Sanskrit as Sumatra-bhumi "land of Sumatra", gradually replacing the earlier Svarna-dvīpa.

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Examples

  • Sumatra is separated from Singapore by the narrow Strait of Malacca.

    Haze Blankets Singapore 2010

  • SINGAPORE — Indonesia said Friday it was moving to stem the haze caused by open burning in Sumatra Island, as Singapore informed Jakarta that respiratory illnesses were increasing because of the acrid smoke blowing in from its Southeast Asian neighbor.

    Indonesia Seeks to Stem Haze En-Lai Yeoh 2010

  • Between 69,000 and 77,000 years ago in Sumatra, Indonesia, a very violent eruption occurred.

    Five Super Volcanoes That Could Devastate Earth | myFiveBest 2010

  • Najla Hafiz/Reuters Late Tuesday, the agency said on its web site that over 200 "hotspots" caused by peat fires in Sumatra were seen via satellite.

    Haze Blankets Singapore 2010

  • The death toll on Sumatra is now at least 70, and is expected to rise as reports come in from rural areas.

    Dual Indonesian Earthquakes Today JDsg 2007

  • Bill Crider's Pop Culture Magazine: Meanwhile, in Sumatra, er, Indonesia ... skip to main | skip to sidebar

    Meanwhile, in Sumatra, er, Indonesia. . . Bill Crider 2007

  • Morphological misfitsFirst identified 180 years ago in Sumatra by naturalist Sir Stamford Raffles, rafflesia has baffled botanists trying to pinpoint its close relatives.

    Archive 2007-01-01 2007

  • Scientists have discovered that the clouded leopard found on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra is an entirely new species of cat.

    New State of Matter? And other scientific press releases 2007

  • Conservation organisation, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), said that coming from Bukit Barisan Selatan (BBS) National Park in Sumatra, Indonesia, the illegally grown coffee is mixed by local traders with legal coffee beans and exported from Indonesia to food and drink companies such as Kraft Foods and Nestle.

    Archive 2007-01-01 2007

  • BBS, a World Heritage Site on the southern tip of the island of Sumatra, is one of the few protected areas where Sumatran tigers, elephants and rhinos coexist.

    Archive 2007-01-01 2007

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