archipelago

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˌɑːkɪˈpɛlɪɡəʊ/, /-lə-/ (UK); /ˌɑɹkəˈpɛləˌɡoʊ/, /-t͡ʃə-/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian arcipelago (“the Aegean Sea”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} literally “chief sea”,^[5][7] from arci- “chief”, from Latin and Greek archi- (see arch-), and pelago “sea”, from Latin pelagus, from Ancient Greek πέλαγος (pélagos, “sea, open sea”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} There is no record of *arkhipélagos in ancient or medieval Greek, so the word is probably an Italian formation, perhaps an alteration of Medieval Latin Egeopelagus “Aegean Sea”.^[4] The spelling with -ch- is a learned restoration after Greek archi-.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Aegean Sea, between Greece and Asia Minor (1502).^[8][3][4][6]

Semantic evolution

The Italians gave the Aegean this name in the 13th century.^[7][4] Because the Aegean is full of islands, the meaning was extended in Italian to any sea studded with islands,^[4] a sense found in English from 1529 in the OED, c. 1600 in Etymonline and the 1600s in Barnhart,^[8][4][3] and then to a group of islands itself.^[8][4][7] Merriam-Webster also records a figurative use, a scattered group of similar things, as in an archipelago of small parks.^[5]

Timeline

• 13th century – Italian arcipelago.^[4][7]
• 1502 – the Aegean Sea.^[8][3]
• 1529 – any sea with many islands; a group of islands.^[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A large group or chain of islands, such as the Malay Archipelago.
2. A sea or expanse of water containing many scattered islands.
3. the Archipelago: the Aegean Sea.
4. A scattered group of similar things.

Word family

• archipelagic

Related words

• pelagic
• archbishop
• architect

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Hendrickson, Robert (2008), The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins, 4th ed., New York: Facts on File
8. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press