ARCHIPELAGO

archipelago, a name now applied to any island-studded sea, but originally the distinctive designation of what is now generally known as the aegean sea ([greek: aigaion pelagos]), its ancient name having been revived. several etymologies have been proposed: e.g. (1) it is a corruption of the ancient name, _egeopelago_; (2) it is from the modern greek, [greek: hagio pelago], the holy sea; (3) it arose at the time of the latin empire, and means the sea of the kingdom (_archi_); (4) it is a translation of the turkish name, ak denghiz, _argon pelagos_, the white sea; (5) it is simply _archipelagus_, italian, _arcipelago_, the chief sea. for the grecian archipelago see aegean sea. other archipelagoes are described in their respective places.