galleon
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of galleon
1520–30; < Spanish galeón, augmentative of galea galley
Explanation
Though a galleon was a large ship with multiple decks, it was no cruise liner and probably didn’t offer round-the-clock buffets. A galleon refers to a type of sailboat used in the 15th to 18th centuries mostly for battles and carrying consumer goods. Galleons had big square sails rigged onto several masts. They were built and sailed by many Europeans, but they are most commonly associated with the Spanish. In fact, this word is derived from the Spanish word galeón, which means “armed merchant ship.”
Vocabulary lists containing galleon
The Cay
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"The Highwayman"
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A Long Way from Chicago
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The galleon also brought a critical technical secret.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026
A full-size replica of a Spanish galleon stares out into Manila Bay, the centrepiece of a museum that will transport visitors back to the 17th century, when conscripted Philippine mariners hastened the era of globalisation.
From Barron's ● Apr. 28, 2026
Sunk in 1708, the galleon San José attained legendary status.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026
The Colombian government has started exploring a sunk 18th Century Spanish galleon dubbed the “holy grail of shipwrecks”.
From BBC ● May 26, 2024
And like a galleon on stormy seas, Lady Augusta Drear barged down the room.
From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck
The Spanish, who had at first just flitted along the coast in their galleons, had begun marching inland and overland from Mexico with crosses and soldiers and soldiers’ families.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
The galleons brought more than silver to the Philippines.
From Barron's ● Apr. 28, 2026
Beyond lie the turquoise and azure waters of the lagoon, a white line of surf at the reef, cumulus clouds on the horizon moving as stately as galleons.
From Slate ● Aug. 5, 2023
Disney attractions have always required the suspension of disbelief: Those are real flying galleons in Peter Pan’s Flight, not plastic ride vehicles on a rail.
From New York Times ● Aug. 19, 2021
Spanish treasure galleons were soon sailing home loaded with riches from mines in Mexico and Peru.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
