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

Its claim to the archipelago, roughly 300 miles off its coast, is enshrined in the constitution and woven into national identity, drawing support across the country’s political divisions. — Sergio Farella, Los Angeles Times, 16 Sep. 2026

One in every 60 adults in the archipelago of less than a million people are now estimated to have Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) –– bucking a global trend of falling rates of the incurable, but treatable, virus. — Lex Harvey, CNN Money, 16 Sep. 2026

Ecuador had just claimed the archipelago, and colonization was on the horizon. — Michele Metych Britannica Editors Sep. 14, Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Sep. 2026

Vanuatu is an archipelago of 83 islands in the South Pacific Ocean, located about 1,750 kilometers (1,090 miles) east of northern Australia. — ABC News, 14 Sep. 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
• pianissimo
• acknow
• aglow
• ago
• airglow
• aloe
• altho
• although
• ammo
• backflow

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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