Archipelago

Pronunciation

• RP IPA: /ɑːkɪˈpÉ›ləɡəʊ/
• Ireland IPA: /ɑɹ.kɪ.pÉ›lˈɑ.ɡəʊ/
• US IPA: /ɑːɹkəˈpÉ›ləɡoÊŠ/
• Hyphenation: ar + chi + pe + la + go

Origin

From Italian Arcipelago ("the Chief Sea, the Aegean Sea"), from Ancient Greek -("leading", archi) + πέλαγος("sea", pelagos). The Aegean (the Arcipelago) is a sea with many islands; by extension, the term an Arcipelago at first referred to any sea with many islands, then to the islands themselves.

Noun

1. A group of islands.
2. Something scattered around like an archipelago.The Gulag Archipelago

Related terms

• archipelagic