sargasso

American  

[sahr-gas-oh] / sɑrˈgæs oʊ /

noun

sargassos plural

1. a gulfweed.

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sargasso British  

/ sɑːˈɡæsəʊ /

noun

1. another name for gulfweed sargassum

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• sargassos
  plural

Etymology

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 -aster ¹

Explanation

Use the noun sargasso when you're talking about a particular kind of seaweed that's mostly found in the Atlantic Ocean, including the region known as the Sargasso Sea. Most folks are more familiar with the place than the name for it; sargasso is a kind of brown seaweed that floats in huge masses, sometimes so dense that you'd think you could walk on it (though this is not recommended). The alternative name, gulfweed, is a nod towards the Gulf of Mexico, home to quite a lot of sargasso.

Example Sentences

He looks ahead at some floating sargasso weed, where some flying fishes are skittering through the air.

From Time Magazine Archive

Out of it flying-fish leaped, and through it dolphins swam in pairs, and over it sargasso drifted like cloud shadows.

From True to His Home A Tale of the Boyhood of Franklin by Pierce, H. Winthrop

What though it be only an azoic extract of intense potato, dimly tinct with sargasso and macaroni—it has a pleasing warmth and bulk.

From Shandygaff by Morley, Christopher

About the fourth day, from the upper deck or the ship's bow, I begin to see floating patches of seaweed—gulfweed or sargasso as it is called.

From Jungle Peace by Beebe, William

In slow and ponderous fashion they float across the sea of his mind, like wandering bits of sargasso weed on the brackish water of a dying ocean.

From Life Sentence by Francis, Dick