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
Seasonal rains frequently cause flooding and landslides in Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile flood plains.
—
Arkansas Online, 30 Nov. 2025
Hundreds of bodies have been recovered in Indonesia after heavy monsoon rains triggered severe flooding across several islands in the archipelago, pushing the rising death toll past 300, the Associated Press reported.
—Mandy Taheri, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Nov. 2025
Scandinavia For something unexpected, consider cruising Norway’s fjords or Sweden’s archipelagos beneath the midnight sun.
—Geoffrey Ravoire, Travel + Leisure, 29 Nov. 2025
Brought to the archipelago by the Dutch through German Lieder as early as the 16th century, seriosa evolved into a refined and expressive form that fused Western vocal techniques with Indonesian languages, values and nationalistic themes.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 28 Nov. 2025
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Arkansas Online, 30 Nov. 2025
Hundreds of bodies have been recovered in Indonesia after heavy monsoon rains triggered severe flooding across several islands in the archipelago, pushing the rising death toll past 300, the Associated Press reported.
—Mandy Taheri, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Nov. 2025
Scandinavia For something unexpected, consider cruising Norway’s fjords or Sweden’s archipelagos beneath the midnight sun.
—Geoffrey Ravoire, Travel + Leisure, 29 Nov. 2025
Brought to the archipelago by the Dutch through German Lieder as early as the 16th century, seriosa evolved into a refined and expressive form that fused Western vocal techniques with Indonesian languages, values and nationalistic themes.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 28 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for archipelago
Cite this Entry
“Archipelago.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/archipelago. Accessed 8 Dec. 2025.
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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