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.

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English

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.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD

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.

Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms

archipelago

views updated May 21 2018

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

A Dictionary of Ecology MICHAEL ALLABY

archipelago

views updated May 08 2018

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

A Dictionary of Earth Sciences AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY

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