galleon

American  

[gal-ee-uhn, gal-yuhn] / ˈgæl i ən, ˈgæl yən /

noun

1. a large sailing vessel of the 15th to the 17th centuries used as a fighting or merchant ship, square-rigged on the foremast and mainmast and generally lateen-rigged on one or two after masts.

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galleon British  

/ ˈɡælɪən /

noun

1. nautical a large sailing ship having three or more masts, lateen-rigged on the after masts and square-rigged on the foremast and mainmast, used as a warship or trader from the 15th to the 18th centuries

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Etymology

Origin of galleon

1520–30; < Spanish galeón, augmentative of galea galley

Example Sentences

“The convents were getting the first dibs on anything that was coming into the country from the galleons,” Gomez-Rejón says.

From Washington Post

In lore and literature, the Kraken capsized, dismantled and swallowed galleons of seafarers.

From Washington Post

He holds a regular business meeting in the game with an executive from Discord, a digital distribution platform, and the two catch up aboard a galleon in what looks like the Caribbean.

From New York Times

Divers in Italy have discovered a “sensational” shipwreck that officials say could be a 16th-century galleon.

From Fox News

Other times, he has apparitions of long-dead slaves pulling the oars on a phantom galleon making its way up Bayou Teche.

From New York Times

Related Words

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• craft
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• skiff
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