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archipelago

[ ahr-kuh-pel-uh-goh ]
/ ˌɑr kəˈpɛl əˌgoʊ /
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noun, plural ar·chi·pel·a·gos, ar·chi·pel·a·goes.
a large group or chain of islands: the Malay Archipelago.
any large body of water with many islands.
the Archipelago, the Aegean Sea.
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Origin of archipelago

1495–1505; alteration (archi- for arci-) of Italian arcipelago, alteration of Egeopelago the Aegean Sea <Greek Aigaîon pélagos

OTHER WORDS FROM archipelago

ar·chi·pe·lag·ic [ahr-kuh-puh-laj-ik], /ˌɑr kə pəˈlædʒ ɪk/, ar·chi·pe·la·gi·an [ahr-kuh-puh-ley-jee-uhn, -juhn], /ˌɑr kə pəˈleɪ dʒi ən, -dʒən/, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use archipelago in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for archipelago

archipelago
/ (ˌɑːkɪˈpɛlɪˌɡəʊ) /

noun plural -gos or -goes
a group of islands
a sea studded with islands

Derived forms of archipelago

archipelagic (ˌɑːkɪpəˈlædʒɪk) or archipelagian (ˌɑːkɪpəˈleɪdʒɪən), adjective

Word Origin for archipelago

C16 (meaning: the Aegean Sea): from Italian arcipelago, literally: the chief sea (perhaps originally a mistranslation of Greek Aigaion pelagos the Aegean Sea), from archi- + pelago sea, from Latin pelagus, from Greek pelagos
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for archipelago

archipelago
[ är′kə-pĕlə-gō′ ]

A large group of islands.
A sea, such as the Aegean, or an area in a sea containing a large number of scattered islands.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Cultural definitions for archipelago

archipelago
[ (ahr-kuh-pel-uh-goh) ]

A group of islands near one another.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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