Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
noun
Preceded by the, and often in the form Archipelago: the Aegean Sea.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A sea or other body of water with many islands.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: broadly
Topics: geography, natural-sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A group of many islands.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: broadly, collective
Topics: geography, natural-sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
A thing comprising many other scattered things.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: figuratively
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
To scatter or strew (a place, or something) with things that collectively resemble a group of many islands.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: rare, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
a group of many islands in a large body of water
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: land, dry land, earth, ground, solid ground, terra firma
Narrower terms: Cape Verde Islands, Tierra del Fuego, Comoro Islands, Iles Comores, West Indies, the Indies, Antilles, Greater Antilles, Lesser Antilles, Caribees, Leeward Islands, Windward Islands, Windward Isles, Svalbard, Lofoten, Aland islands, Aaland islands, Ahvenanmaa, Arctic Archipelago, Aleutian Islands, Aleutians, Oceania, Oceanica, Australasia, Austronesia, Melanesia, Micronesia, Mariana Islands, Marianas, Ladrone Islands, Caroline Islands, Marshall Islands, Gilbert Islands, Tuvalu, Ellice Islands, Polynesia, Malay Archipelago, East Indies, East India, Sunda Islands, Greater Sunda Islands, Lesser Sunda Islands, Nusa Tenggara, Bismarck Archipelago, Admiralty Islands, Scilly Islands, Isles of Scilly, Hebrides, Hebridean Islands, Hebridean Isles, Western Islands, Western Isles, Inner Hebrides, Outer Hebrides, Japan, Japanese Islands, Japanese Archipelago, Ryukyu Islands, Volcano Islands, Frisian Islands, Orkney Islands, Shetland, Shetland Islands, Zetland, Palau, Palau Islands, Belau, Pelew, Philippines, Philippine Islands, Madeira Islands, Madeiras, Society Islands, Tuamotu Archipelago, Paumotu Archipelago, Low Archipelago, Tubuai Islands, Austral Islands, Gambier Islands, Marquesas Islands, Iles Marquises, Solomons, Solomon Islands, Balearic Islands, Alexander Archipelago, Hawaiian Islands, Sandwich Islands
History
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-Indo-European language. By surface analysis, archi- (prefix meaning ‘foremost, primary’) + -pelago (suffix meaning ‘sea’). Noun sense 2.1 (“sea with many islands”) is from the fact that the Aegean Sea has many islands, and noun sense 2.2 (“group of many islands”) represents a shift of meaning from the sea to the islands in such a sea. The verb is derived from the noun. cognates * Greek αρχιπέλαγος (archipélagos)
Across languages
178 source translations are retained for this English entry.
