archipelago English · revision 757

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˌɑːkɪˈpɛlɪɡəʊ/, /-lə-/ ''(UK)''; /ˌɑɹkəˈpɛləˌɡoʊ/, /-t͡ʃə-/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|it|arcipelago|t=the Aegean Sea]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986) literally “chief sea”,^(MW Collegiate)^(Hendrickson 2008) from ''arci-'' “chief”, from Latin and Greek ''archi-'' (see [[arch-]]), and ''pelago'' “sea”, from Latin ''pelagus'', from [[grc|πέλαγος|tr=pélagos|t=sea, open sea]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986) 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”.^(Etymonline) The spelling with ''-ch-'' is a learned restoration after Greek ''archi-''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Aegean Sea, between Greece and Asia Minor (1502).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The Italians gave the Aegean this name in the 13th century.^(Hendrickson 2008)^(Etymonline) Because the Aegean is full of islands, the meaning was extended in Italian to any sea studded with islands,^(Etymonline) a sense found in English from 1529 in the OED, c. 1600 in Etymonline and the 1600s in Barnhart,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995) and then to a group of islands itself.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(Hendrickson 2008) Merriam-Webster also records a figurative use, a scattered group of similar things, as in ''an archipelago of small parks''.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 13th century – Italian ''arcipelago''.^(Etymonline)^(Hendrickson 2008)

+ * 1502 – the Aegean Sea.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1529 – any sea with many islands; a group of islands.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A large group or chain of [[island|alt=islands]], such as the Malay Archipelago.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A sea or expanse of water containing many scattered islands.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # ''the Archipelago'': the [[Aegean Sea]].^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)^(OED 1989)

+ # A scattered group of similar things.^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[archipelagic]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pelagic]]

+ * [[archbishop]]

+ * [[architect]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}