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Webster 1913 Edition
Archipelago
Arˊchi-pel′a-go
,Noun.
pl.
-goes
or -gos
. [It.
arcipelago
, properly, chief sea; Gr. pref [GREEK] + [GREEK] sea, perh. akin to [GREEK] blow, and expressing the beating of the waves. See Plague
.] 1.
The Grecian Archipelago, or Ægean Sea, separating Greece from Asia Minor. It is studded with a vast number of small islands.
2.
Hence: Any sea or broad sheet of water interspersed with many islands or with a group of islands.
Webster 1828 Edition
Archipelago
ARCHIPEL'AGO
,Noun.
In a general sense, a sea interspersed with many isles; but particularly the sea which separates Europe from Asia, otherwise called the Egean Sea. It contains the Grecian isles, called Cyclades and Sporades.