galleon

noun

gal·​le·​on ˈga-lē-ən 

: a heavy square-rigged sailing ship of the 15th to early 18th centuries used for war or commerce especially by the Spanish

Illustration of galleon

Examples of galleon in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Alas, as anyone who’s ever played a JRPG might expect of a journey aboard a massive flying galleon, the Sullys’ convoy is attacked in the sky, and their family is scattered into a small handful of different factions that spend the rest of the movie trying to reunite. —David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 16 Dec. 2025

The galleon, which sank in the Caribbean Sea in 1708 during an attack by a British fleet, has been the subject of intense scrutiny and international disputes since it was discovered in 2015. —Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 23 Nov. 2025

Colombian researchers located the galleon in 2015, leading to legal and diplomatic disputes. —CBS News, 21 Nov. 2025

The artifacts are the first treasures to be recovered from the wreckage of the San José, a Spanish galleon that was sunk by the British Royal Navy in the Caribbean more than 300 years ago. —Michael Rios, CNN Money, 20 Nov. 2025

Word History

Etymology

probably borrowed from Italian galeone, galione (later reinforced by Spanish galeón, probably borrowed from Italian), from galea galley + -one, augmentative suffix

First Known Use

1529, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

galleon

noun

gal·​le·​on ˈgal-ē-ən 

: a large sailing ship with square sails used from the 1400s to the 1700s especially by the Spanish