archipelago

American  

[ahr-kuh-pel-uh-goh] / ˌɑr kəˈpɛl əˌgoʊ /

noun

PLURAL

archipelagos, archipelagoes

1. a large group or chain of islands.

   the Malay Archipelago.

2. any large body of water with many islands.

3. the Archipelago, the Aegean Sea.

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archipelago British  

/ ˌɑːkɪpəˈleɪdʒɪən, ˌɑːkɪˈpɛlɪˌɡəʊ, ˌɑːkɪpəˈlædʒɪk /

noun

1. a group of islands

2. a sea studded with islands

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archipelago Scientific  

/ är′kə-pĕl′ə-gō′ /

1. A large group of islands.

2. A sea, such as the Aegean, or an area in a sea containing a large number of scattered islands.

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archipelago Cultural  

1. A group of islands near one another.

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Other Word Forms

• archipelagian adjective
• archipelagic adjective

Etymology

Origin of archipelago

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

Example Sentences

Rage over so-called ghost flood-control projects has been mounting for months in the archipelago country of 116 million, where entire towns have been buried in floodwaters driven by powerful typhoons in recent months.

From Barron's

In 2013, Lu registered a new company in the Seychelles, an African archipelago in the Indian Ocean, to apply for IP addresses from Africa’s internet registry, called the African Network Information Centre, or Afrinic.

From The Wall Street Journal

At that time, the archipelago was home to communities whose ancestors had come from North Africa more than a thousand years earlier.

From Science Daily

Working under the terms of the Compact, the US is now strengthening its own military footprint in the archipelago.

From BBC

China is the biggest source of tourists to the archipelago, with almost 7.5 million visitors in the first nine months of 2025 -- a quarter of all foreign tourists, according to official Japanese figures.

From Barron's

Related Words

• enclave
• isle
• islet
• peninsula
• reef