From Italian 'isolato' (made into an island), from Latin 'insula' — to isolate is to make something into an island.
To set apart from others; to place alone; to separate a substance or organism from a mixture or from other organisms. In medicine, to quarantine.
From French isoler or Italian isolare (to isolate, to set apart), from Italian isola (island), from Latin insula (island). The PIE root underlying insula is debated; the most widely accepted analysis connects it to en (in) + sal- (salt water, sea), giving the sense of land in salt water. The same Latin root gives English insulate (to make island-like, to separate), insular (island-like, narrow in outlook), and insulin (named because the hormone is produced in the islets of Langerhans — small island-like clusters of pancreatic cells). The
The word 'isolate' took an unusual route into English. Latin 'insula' became Italian 'isola,' which became the verb 'isolare' and its past participle 'isolato.' French borrowed it as 'isolé.' English borrowed the French adjective and then back-formed a verb from it. This means 'isolate' is a Latin word that