archipelago

Meanings

Noun

a group of many islands in a large body of water
A group of islands.
The Aegean Sea.
Something scattered around like an archipelago.

Verb

To scatter or be scattered so as to resemble a group of islands.

Origin / Etymology

From Italian arcipelago, formed on the basis of Ancient Greek ἀρχι- (arkhi-, “main”) + πέλαγος (pélagos, “sea”), a designation for the Aegean Sea. (Compare arch- and high seas.) The Aegean Sea is a sea with many islands; the term Arcipelago, originally a proper noun referring to the Aegean Sea, was first generalized to a common noun for any sea with many islands, and then to the islands in such a sea.

Scrabble Score: 19

archipelago is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
archipelago is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
archipelago is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 22

archipelago is a valid Words With Friends word