Reigilaid (Orjaku)

Reigilaid is a former small islet in the Baltic Sea in Orjaku, Estonia.

Geography

Reigilaid lies at the northwest end of Kassari island, in Jausa Bay. It is now a peninsula of the island of Hiiumaa. Reigilaid has an area of to, depending on the measurement, and it has an oblong northwest–southeast orientation. It lies above sea level.

Name

The name Reigilaid is a compound, in which the second element, -laid, means 'islet'. Among various theories, the most common is that the first part, Reigi-, derives from a form like *hraukia, *röiki, or *räike, meaning 'stony land, stony region', thus 'stony/rocky island'. The onomastician Aino Naert pointed out that in the Hiiumaa Swedish dialect öy became i, and that the final -i in Reigi- may be a development of Swedish ö 'island'.