Hogland

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A island in the Gulf of Finland, located off the coast of Russia and known in Russian as Suursaari
2. An island lying in the eastern Gulf of Finland, near the Russian coast, that is also called Suursaari
3. The name of a small Baltic island in the Gulf of Finland belonging to Russia and known locally as Suursaari

Etymology: The name is Swedish, and it describes a hill rather than a flat island. "Hogland" comes from Swedish "hög," meaning high, plus "land." The island sits in the Gulf of Finland, and its Finnish name, "Suursaari," means "great island." Russia, which now administers it, uses a third name for it, so the same rock carries three languages' descriptions of it. The island's ownership has moved with the wider contests over the Baltic. It belonged to the Swedish crown before passing to Russia in the early 18th century, when Sweden lost much of its eastern territory. English speakers took the name from Swedish, so the word preserves a Swedish label for a place that has been under Russian control for most of its modern history.