Meaning & use
archipelago
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Meanings
nouncountablespecialist
A group or chain of islands lying close together in one sea area.
Grammar: Countable; singular for one group, plural for several. It is not one island but a scattered set.
Patterns
- an archipelago of islands
- a volcanic archipelago
- part of an archipelago
The ferry links villages across the outer archipelago.
A volcanic archipelago rose where the plates meet.
The nation includes part of the Malay Archipelago.
nouncountablespecialist
The sea area containing such a group of islands.
Grammar: Countable; less common and usually with the. It names the water-and-island region, not only the land.
Patterns
- sail the archipelago
- across the archipelago
- the Greek archipelago
Sailors crossed the archipelago before the storm.
The chart marks reefs across the whole archipelago.
Word forms
| plural | archipelagos |
|---|---|
| plural also | archipelagoes |
Common combinations
- volcanic archipelago
- The volcanic archipelago has black-sand beaches.
- island archipelago
- An island archipelago stretches along the coast.
- across the archipelago
- Storms closed schools across the archipelago.
- scattered archipelago
- A scattered archipelago makes ferry routes complex.
Synonyms and how they differ
- island chain
- Plain and descriptive; archipelago is the single geographical term.
- isles
- Poetic or general for islands; not specifically a connected group in one sea.
- atoll group
- Refers to ring-shaped coral islands only; archipelago can be volcanic, continental, or coral.
Opposites
Word family
- archipelagic adjective
- Relating to an archipelago or its waters; specialist.
Commonly confused: archipelago or peninsula? archipelago or ipelago?
archipelago vs peninsula
A peninsula is land almost surrounded by water; an archipelago is islands surrounded by sea.
archipelago vs ipelago
Not an English word; the ending is -ipelago within archipelago.
Practice
Which is an archipelago?
Choose one answer.
An archipelago is a group or chain of islands in a sea area, not one island, a lake, or a river delta.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “archipelago”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.