an island comprising the republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland | an international organization of European countries formed after World War II to reduce trade barriers and increase cooperation among its members |
a republic consisting of 26 of 32 counties comprising the island of Ireland; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1921 | the nations of the European continent collectively |
| the 2nd smallest continent (actually a vast peninsula of Eurasia); the British use `Europe' to refer to all of the continent except the British Isles |