Archipelago Definition

ärkə-pĕlə-gō, ärchə-
archipelagoes, archipelagos
noun
A sea with many islands.
Webster's New World
A sea, such as the Aegean, containing a large number of scattered islands.
American Heritage
A group or chain of many islands.
Webster's New World
Wiktionary
Something scattered around like an archipelago.
The Gulag Archipelago.
Wiktionary

Other Word Forms of Archipelago

Noun

Singular:
archipelago
Plural:
archipelagoes, archipelagos

Origin of Archipelago

  • Italian Arcipelago the Aegean Sea alteration (influenced by arci- chief, archi-) of Medieval Latin Ēgēopelagus Latin Aegaeus, Ēgēus Aegean (from Greek Aigaios) Latin pelagus sea (from Greek pelagos plāk-1 in Indo-European roots)

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From Italian Arcipelago (“the Chief Sea, the Aegean Sea”), from Ancient Greek ἀρχι- (archi-, “leading”) +‎ πέλαγος (pelagos, “sea”). The Aegean (the Arcipelago) is a sea with many islands; by extension, the term an Arcipelago at first referred to any sea with many islands, then to the islands themselves.

    From Wiktionary

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