archipelago

CEFRC1

/ˌɑːkɪˈpɛlɪɡəʊ/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A group of islands.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A group of many islands.

Examples

  • The Celebes and Sulu Seas separate the Indonesian Archipelago and the Philippines.

  • The Japanese archipelago is struck by a terrible heat wave.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5

Also pronounced

  • /-lə-/
  • /-t͡ʃə-/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A sea or other body of water with many islands.

  2. Preceded by the, and often in the form Archipelago: the Aegean Sea.

  3. A thing comprising many other scattered things.

More examples

In context

  • the Gulag Archipelago

  • [W]hen in his imagination he had ſettled his rout, through Holland and France to Sicily, vvhich he had long vviſhed to ſee, and from thence to the Archipelago, he breathed freer, and felt himſelf more reconciled to exiſtence.

  • [M]any other iles within the Archpelago that is yͤ Gulf be twix Grese and Turkye that cometh from the Grekes see in to the grete see before Constantynople, thorow the brace of Seynt George·

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The blank is a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

The noun is borrowed from Italian arcipelago (“Aegean Sea; group of many islands”), from arci- (variant of archi- (prefix meaning ‘foremost, primary’)) + pelago (“(open) sea”): * Archi- is derived from Latin archi-, from Ancient Greek ᾰ̓ρχῐ- (ărkhĭ-, prefix denoting primary authority or importance), from ἄρχω (árkhō, “to begin; to lead, rule”) or ᾰ̓ρχός (ărkhós, “leader, ruler”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- (“to fit, put together”) or *h₂ergʰ- (“to begin; to command, rule”). * Pelago is from Latin pelagus (“sea”), from Ancient Greek πέλᾰγος (pélăgos, “sea”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“flat”) or a non-Ind...