sargasso

[sahr-gas-oh]

noun, plural sar·gas·sos.

a gulfweed.

Origin of sargasso

1590–1600; < Portuguese, perhaps special use of sargaço rockrose < Latin salicastrum, equivalent to salic- (stem of salix) willow + -astrum, neuter of -aster -aster¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for sargasso

Contemporary Examples of sargasso

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is hovering near 14,000, and global bond markets are as calm as the Sargasso Sea.
Why Do Banks Get Away With Murder?
Daniel Gross
February 7, 2013
She may drift into the Sargasso Sea of daytime television, where she can chat up B-list celebrities.
Arrivederci, Sarah!
Joe McGinniss
October 6, 2011

Historical Examples of sargasso

Certainly that was true of the vast stewing labyrinth of the Sargasso.
The Cruise of the Dry Dock
T. S. Stribling
Never had the Sargasso appeared so vast, so empty, so brilliant, so hot.
The Cruise of the Dry Dock
T. S. Stribling
What was their motive in anchoring the Minnie B in the middle of the Sargasso?
The Cruise of the Dry Dock
T. S. Stribling
"It is a strange precaution to take in the Sargasso," agreed the American.
The Cruise of the Dry Dock
T. S. Stribling
They bothered the navigators of old, did those Sargasso seas, uncommonly.
Shifting Winds
R.M. Ballantyne

British Dictionary definitions for sargasso

sargasso

sargasso weed

noun plural -sos

another name for gulfweed, sargassum

Word Origin for sargasso

C16: from Portuguese sargaço, of unknown origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for sargasso

"seaweed," 1590s, from Portuguese sargasso "seaweed," perhaps from sarga, a type of grape (on this theory, the sea plant was so called from its berry-like air sacs), or from Latin sargus, a kind of fish found in the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic, from Greek sargos. Sargasso Sea attested from 1819.