archipelago

noun

ar·​chi·​pel·​a·​go ˌär-kə-ˈpe-lə-ˌgō 

ˌär-chə-

plural archipelagoes or archipelagos

1

: an expanse of water with many scattered islands

2

: a group of islands

3

: something resembling an archipelago

especially : a group or scattering of similar things

an archipelago of small parks within the city

Did you know?

The Greeks called it the Aegean Pelagos and the Italians referred to it as Arcipelago (meaning "chief sea"), but English speakers now call it the Aegean Sea. Numerous islands dot its expanse, and 16th-century English speakers adopted a modified form of its Italian name for any sea with a similar scattering of islands. In time, archipelago came to refer to the groups of islands themselves, and now it is often used figuratively, as in, for example, "an archipelago of high-rise buildings."

Examples of archipelago in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This puffer jacket has been with me to vineyards in Tuscany, the highlands of Scotland, the streets of Dublin, all over Broadway in Nashville, bar hopping in New York City, and boating through the archipelago of Finland. —Amber Love Bond, Travel + Leisure, 1 Nov. 2024

The Azores, Portugal In the heart of the Atlantic, Portugal’s Azores archipelago consisting of nine exceptional islands — São Miguel, Santa Maria, Graciosa, Terceira, São Jorge, Pico, Faial, Flores, and Corvo — has been selected as the #1 Best Sustainable Destination in Europe. —Cecilia Rodriguez, Forbes, 27 Oct. 2024

And there are no pipelines to move gasoline between Northern California and Southern California — making the Southland even more of an archipelago. —Russ Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 24 Oct. 2024

Soldiers of the 11th Airborne Division, as well as the 1st and 3rd Multi Domain Task Forces, deployed to Shemya Island, part of the vast Aleutian Islands archipelago, on September 12. —Max Hauptman, USA TODAY, 17 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Archipelago Aegean Sea, from Italian Arcipelago, literally, chief sea, from arci- (from Latin archi-) + Greek pelagos sea — more at plagal

First Known Use

1598, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

archipelago

noun

ar·​chi·​pel·​a·​go ˌär-kə-ˈpel-ə-ˌgō 

ˌär-chə-

plural archipelagoes or archipelagos

: a wide stretch of water with many scattered islands

also : a group of islands