ARCHIPELAGO - /är″kə-pĕl′ə-gō″, är″chə-/    (n.)

- large group of islands, or sea 🔍 containing a large number of scattered islands.

From Italian arcipelago = Aegean 🔍 Sea; literally principle sea/ gulf [arci = chief,

principal (Latin archi / Greek arkh, arkhi = first, chief, primeval - e.g. archangel) + pelago;

(Latin pelagus & Greek pelagos) = pool; gulf, abyss, sea {high sea, open sea, main.}]

Elements of the word are Greek, but Greek arkhipelagos is borrowed from Italian, with no record in ancient

or Medieval Greek. The Italian compound is from Latin Egeopelagus; Greek Aigaion pelagos = Aegean

Sea. The Aegean being full of island chains, the Italian word later extended to any sea studded with

islands and/or to the islands themselves; and the Aigai/ Egeo = Aegean was conflated/replaced with

similar sounding archi = prime adjective, which was also applicable to the Aegean.