English Explanatory Dictionary

archipelago

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A group of islands.
  2. The Aegean Sea.
  3. Something scattered around like an archipelago.
verb
  1. To scatter or be scattered so as to resemble a group of islands.

Pronunciation

/ˌɑːkɪˈpɛləɡəʊ/ /ˌɑɹkəˈpɛləˌɡoʊ/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-archipelago.wav en-us-archipelago.ogg

Word forms

archipelago archipelagos archipelagoes archipelagoing archipelagoed

Etymology

From Italian arcipelago, formed on the basis of Ancient Greek ἀρχι- (arkhi-, “main”) + πέλαγος (pélagos, “sea”), a designation for the Aegean Sea. (Compare arch- and high seas.) The Aegean Sea is a sea with many islands; the term Arcipelago, originally a proper noun referring to the Aegean Sea, was first generalized to a common noun for any sea with many islands, and then to the islands in such a sea. By surface analysis, archi- + -pelago.

Related words

island chain

Derived words

archipelagal archipelagic archipelago big-eyed treefrog Arctic Archipelago Bazaruto Archipelago Canadian Arctic Archipelago Nordenskiöld Archipelago subarchipelago archipelagoed
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