sargasso
[sahr-gas-oh]
- a gulfweed.
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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
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for sargasso
Contemporary Examples
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is hovering near 14,000, and global bond markets are as calm as the Sargasso Sea.
She may drift into the Sargasso Sea of daytime television, where she can chat up B-list celebrities.
Historical Examples
Certainly that was true of the vast stewing labyrinth of the Sargasso.
The Cruise of the Dry DockT. S. Stribling
Never had the Sargasso appeared so vast, so empty, so brilliant, so hot.
The Cruise of the Dry DockT. S. Stribling
What was their motive in anchoring the Minnie B in the middle of the Sargasso?
The Cruise of the Dry DockT. S. Stribling
"It is a strange precaution to take in the Sargasso," agreed the American.
The Cruise of the Dry DockT. S. Stribling
They bothered the navigators of old, did those Sargasso seas, uncommonly.
Shifting WindsR.M. Ballantyne
sargasso
sargasso weed
Word Origin
C16: from Portuguese sargaço, of unknown origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for sargasso
n.
"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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper