What does archipelago mean?

Answer 1

It is a tectonically formed group or cluster of large islands.such as aegean sea which contains a large number of scattered islands.
Archipelago is a chain or cluster of islands that is formed tectonically. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- - arkhi- ("chief") and πέλαγος - pelagos("sea") through the Italian Archipelago. In Italian, possibly following a tradition of antiquity, the Archipelago(from medieval Greek was the proper name for the Aegean Sea and, later, usage shifted to refer to the Aegean Islands (since the sea is remarkable for its large number of islands). It is now used to generally refer to any island group or, sometimes, to a sea containing a large number of scattered islands like the Aegean Sea.