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.
Word of the Day: Catachrestical
1. The Grecian Archipelago, or Aegean 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.
Archipelago
Encyclopedia Britannica
ARCHIPELAGO, a name which, though it is now applied to any island-studded sea, was formerly the distinctive designation of what, though still known aa the Archipelago, is often distinguished as the Grecian Archipelago, namely, that part of the Mediterranean which lies between Greece and Thessaly on the W. and Asia Minor on the E.—the Aegean Sea ( ’ Aιγdiov Tiελaγoς) o>f the ancients. Several etymologies of the name have been proposed, as—(1), It is a corruption of the ancient name; (2), it is from the modern Greek, ‘Αγιο ∏eλαγo, the Holy Sea; (3), it arose at the time of the Latin empire, and means the Sea of the Kingdom (Arche); (4), it is a translation of the Turkish name, Ak Degniz, Argon Pelagos, the White Sea; (5), it is simply Archipelagus, the Chief Sea....
The Grecian Archipelago abounds in islands, of which the following are the chief :—Thaso, near the Rumelian (Thracian) coast, opposite the mouth of the Karasu (Nestus) ; Samothraki, fronting the Gulf of Saros; Imbro and Lemnos, in prolongation of the peninsula of Gallipoli (Chersonesus Thracica); Skiathos, Skopelo, Celadroni, Peristeria, &c., running out from the southern extremity of the Thessalian coast; Negropont (Euboea), the largest of all, along the east coast of Greece; Skyros, with its satellites, east of Negropont; Mitylene (Lesbos) and Chios, off Asia Minor; Samo and Nikari (Icaria), in prolongation from Cape St Maria (Mycale Pr.); Stancho (Cos, εσ- τ⅛-Kω), in the Gulf of Cos, with Kalymno to the north; and finally, the great group of the Cyclades, of which the most important are Andros, Tenos, Myconos, and Delos, in prolongation of Euboea, Zea (Ceos), and Cythnos, running out from the south of Attica, and Melos, Kimolos, Siphnos, Antiparos, Paros, Naxos, Amorgos, Astynactea, forming a curve, from west to east, with its convexity to the north, while to the south are a number of smaller islands. This profusion gives beauty and picturesqueness to the sea, but renders its navigation difficult and dangerous, notwithstanding the large number of safe and commodious gulfs and bays. Many of the islands are of volcanic formation; while others, as Paros, are mainly composed of pure whito marble. The larger islands have some very fertile and well-watered valleys and plains. The chief productions are wheat, wine, oil, mastic, figs, raisins, honey, wax, cotton, and silk. The people are employed in fishing for coral and sponges, as well as for bream, mullet, and other fish. The men are hardy, well built, and handsome; and the women are noted for their beauty, the ancient Greek type being well preserved. The Cyclades belong to Greece; most of the other islands to Turkey.
The other Archipelagoes, portions of ocean with numerous islands in close contiguity, as the Indian, Caribbean, Patagonian, <tc., will be described in their respective places,
9th ed. Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 2, p. 381
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