Crossword Genius

Island with revolutionary name impervious to external influence? (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

hermetic

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'impervious to external influence?' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.

'island with revolutionary name' is the wordplay.
'island with' becomes 'herm' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'revolutionary' says the letters should be written backwards.
'name' becomes 'cite' (I've seen this in other clues).
'cite' written backwards gives 'etic'.
'herm'+'etic'='HERMETIC'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for hermetic that I've seen before include "Sealed so as to be airtight" , "Completely sealed" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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