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

But the colors, ranging from cyan to deepest cobalt, owe more to the geology of the archipelago and to the reflective quality of its pearlescent white sand. —Henry Wismayer, Travel + Leisure, 7 Jan. 2026

While my social life looks like a loose archipelago of individuals, other people seem to operate in warm, robust units. —Jenny Singer, The Atlantic, 7 Jan. 2026

Indonesia is an archipelago with more than 17,000 islands, where boats are a common form of transportation. —CBS News, 4 Jan. 2026

And then there’s Norway’s coast, dotted with small archipelagos, which has become the new bucket list trip for both the Northern Lights in winter and Midnight Sun in summer. —Marcia Simon, Hartford Courant, 3 Jan. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Archipelago Aegean Sea, from Italian Arcipelago, literally, chief sea, from arci- (from Latin archi-) + Greek pelagos sea — more at plagal

First Known Use

1598, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for archipelago

• duodecimo
• impresario
• acknow
• aglow
• ago
• airglow
• aloe
• altho
• although
• ammo
• backflow
• backhoe

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Kids 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