archipelago

views updated May 11 2018

ar·chi·pel·a·go / ˌärkəˈpeləˌgō/ • n. (pl. -gos or -goes) a group of islands. ∎  a sea or stretch of water containing many islands.ORIGIN: early 16th cent.: from Italian arcipelago, from Greek arkhi- ‘chief’ + pelagos ‘sea.’ The word was originally used as a proper name (the Archipelago ‘the Aegean Sea’): the generalization of meaning occurred because the Aegean Sea is remarkable for its large numbers of islands.

archipelago

views updated May 29 2018

archipelago Aegean Sea; sea with numerous islands; group of many islands. XVI. — It. arcipelago, f. ARCHI- + Gr. pélagos sea.

Archipelago

views updated Jun 11 2018

Archipelago

the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, hence, any sea or broad sheet of water containing many islands.

Examples: archipelago of isolated communities, 1862; of the Polar Ocean, 1830.

archipelago

views updated May 21 2018

archipelago A group of islands; a sea containing many scattered small islands.

archipelago

views updated May 08 2018

archipelago Group of islands; a sea containing many scattered small islands.