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
Offshore experiences include a tour of Pierre Cardin’s holiday home and a candlelight concert in Les Saintes in the Guadeloupe archipelago.
—
Elycia Rubin, HollywoodReporter, 24 Mar. 2026
Tonga is an archipelago in Polynesia made up of 171 islands with just over 100,000 people, most of whom live on the main island of Tongatapu.
—ABC News, 24 Mar. 2026
The Channel Islands archipelago was carved from plate tectonic forces.
—Kate Bradshaw, Mercury News, 23 Mar. 2026
There’s also the work of Dean Worcester, the American anthropologist and zoologist who went to the Philippines and photographed peoples of the indigenous tribes of the Luzon region, the big northern most island of the archipelago.
—Lisa Deaderick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for archipelago
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Elycia Rubin, HollywoodReporter, 24 Mar. 2026
Tonga is an archipelago in Polynesia made up of 171 islands with just over 100,000 people, most of whom live on the main island of Tongatapu.
—ABC News, 24 Mar. 2026
The Channel Islands archipelago was carved from plate tectonic forces.
—Kate Bradshaw, Mercury News, 23 Mar. 2026
There’s also the work of Dean Worcester, the American anthropologist and zoologist who went to the Philippines and photographed peoples of the indigenous tribes of the Luzon region, the big northern most island of the archipelago.
—Lisa Deaderick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Mar. 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 1 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
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
