ar ‧ chi ‧ pel ‧ a ‧ go /ˌɑːkəˈpeləɡəʊ, ˌɑːkɪˈpeləɡəʊ $ ˌɑːrkəˈpeləɡoʊ/ BrE AmE noun ( plural archipelagos ) [countable]
[ Date: 1600-1700 ; Origin: Archipelago 'Aegean sea' (16-19 centuries) , from Italian , 'main sea' , from arci- (from Latin archi- ; ⇨ ↑ arch- ) + Greek pelagos 'sea' ]
a group of small islands
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THESAURUS
▪ island a piece of land completely surrounded by water:
We visited the Greek island of Kos.
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In the centre of a lake is a small island.
▪ isle an island – used in poetry or in names of islands:
The horse carried him to the windswept isle of Bujan.
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It is the most southerly point in the British Isles.
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the Windward Isles
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the Isle of Wight
▪ peninsula a piece of land almost completely surrounded by water but joined to a large area of land:
There is a coastal path around the peninsula.
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the Korean peninsula
▪ archipelago a group of small islands that are in a line:
He lives on an island at the eastern end of the Indonesian archipelago.