Galapagos Islands

proper noun

An archipelago off the coast of Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean, famed for their influence on Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection.

OriginSpanish islas Galápagos ← New Latin insulae ← Paleo-Hispanic *calappacu →
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

proper noun

alternative Galápagos Islands · alternative Galapagos · alternative Galápagos · alternative Galapago Islands

  1. An archipelago off the coast of Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean, famed for their influence on Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection.

Origin

  1. Paleo-Hispanic*calappacu“turtle”
  2. Spanishgalápago“turtle”
  3. New Latininsulae
  4. Spanishislas Galápagos
  5. EnglishGalapagos Islands

From Spanish islas Galápagos, first attested as New Latin insulae de los galopegos (“islands of the turtles”) in Abraham Ortelius's 1570 atlas Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, from a variant spelling of Spanish galápago (“turtle”), from Paleo-Hispanic. Cf. Catalan calàpet (“toad”) and Portuguese cágado (“turtle”).

More words from Spanish, New Latin, Paleo-Hispanic

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan illes Galápagos
  • illes GalápagosEcuadorian archipelago
Chinese Mandarin 加拉帕戈斯群島 /加拉帕戈斯群岛, 科隆群島 /科隆群岛
  • 加拉帕戈斯群島 /加拉帕戈斯群岛 (Jiālāpàgēsī Qúndǎo)Ecuadorian archipelago
  • 科隆群島 /科隆群岛 (Kēlóng Qúndǎo)Ecuadorian archipelago
  • 加拉巴哥群島 /加拉巴哥群岛 (Jiālābāgē Qúndǎo)Ecuadorian archipelago
Czech Galapágy
  • GalapágyEcuadorian archipelago
Estonian Galápagose Saared
  • Galápagose SaaredEcuadorian archipelago
Finnish Galápagossaaret
  • GalápagossaaretEcuadorian archipelago
French îles Galápagos
  • îles GalápagosEcuadorian archipelago
German Galapagosinseln
  • GalapagosinselnEcuadorian archipelago
Greek Νησιά Γκαλαπάγκος
  • Νησιά Γκαλαπάγκος (Nisiá Gkalapágkos)Ecuadorian archipelago
Icelandic Galápagoseyjar
  • GalápagoseyjarEcuadorian archipelago
Indonesian Kepulauan Galapagos
  • Kepulauan GalapagosEcuadorian archipelago
Irish Oileáin Galápagos
  • Oileáin GalápagosEcuadorian archipelago
Italian Galapagos
  • GalapagosEcuadorian archipelago
Japanese ガラパゴス諸島
  • ガラパゴス諸島 (Garapagosu Shotō)Ecuadorian archipelago
Polish Galapagos
  • GalapagosEcuadorian archipelago
Portuguese ilhas Galápagos
  • ilhas GalápagosEcuadorian archipelago
Romanian Insulele Galapagos
  • Insulele GalapagosEcuadorian archipelago
Russian Галапаго́сские острова́
  • Галапаго́сские острова́ (Galapagósskije ostrová)Ecuadorian archipelago
Spanish islas Galápagos, Archipiélago de Colón
  • islas GalápagosEcuadorian archipelago
  • Archipiélago de ColónEcuadorian archipelago
  • Archipiélago de la EcuadorEcuadorian archipelago
  • Archipiélago de EcuadorEcuadorian archipelago
Cite this entry
APA

Galapagos Islands. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Galapagos%20Islands

MLA

“Galapagos Islands.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Galapagos%20Islands. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Galapagos Islands,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Galapagos%20Islands.

Source: Galapagos Islands on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.