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
Co is one of several powerful legislators, including former House Speaker Martin Romualdez and former Senate President Francis Escudero, who were accused of pocketing huge kickbacks from flood control projects in an Asian archipelago prone to deadly floodings and typhoons.
—
ABC News, 16 Apr. 2026
Located on Beef Island, it's connected to Tortola—the archipelago's largest and most populated island—by a bridge.
—Carley Rojas Avila, Travel + Leisure, 15 Apr. 2026
The Marianas are an archipelago comprising 15 different islands, including Guam, in the western Pacific, about 1,500 miles east of the Philippines.
—Emily Mae Czachor, CBS News, 13 Apr. 2026
The image, captured by Roie Galitz, a winner in the Europe category, shows a female polar bear feeding on the carcass of a sperm whale north of the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard.
—New Atlas, 12 Apr. 2026
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ABC News, 16 Apr. 2026
Located on Beef Island, it's connected to Tortola—the archipelago's largest and most populated island—by a bridge.
—Carley Rojas Avila, Travel + Leisure, 15 Apr. 2026
The Marianas are an archipelago comprising 15 different islands, including Guam, in the western Pacific, about 1,500 miles east of the Philippines.
—Emily Mae Czachor, CBS News, 13 Apr. 2026
The image, captured by Roie Galitz, a winner in the Europe category, shows a female polar bear feeding on the carcass of a sperm whale north of the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard.
—New Atlas, 12 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for archipelago
Cite this Entry
“Archipelago.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/archipelago. Accessed 24 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationKids 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
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