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

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Cocktails flow like the outgoing tide around the darkened Wreck Bar, designed to look like a Spanish galleon resting on the ocean floor. —Connie Ogle, orlandosentinel.com, 20 Mar. 2022

After the wreck of a Basque galleon—thought to be the San Juan—was discovered off the coast of Canada, National Geographic wrote about its exploration in 1985. —National Geographic, 13 Jan. 2023

In 1976, the Dominican Republic’s Underwater Archaeological Recovery Commission began excavating the Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, a Spanish galleon designed to carry quicksilver (mercury) that was used in Spain’s gold and silver mines in Mexico. —Michael Bawaya, Discover Magazine, 29 Apr. 2015

The galleon left Spain for the Caribbean in March 1622, but sank later that year after it was caught in a hurricane near Florida. —Dana Givens, Robb Report, 2 Nov. 2022

From August to December 1654, the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de las Maravillas (Our Lady of Wonders) waited in Cartagena, Colombia, for a cargo of silver that would never arrive. —Sean Kingsley, Smithsonian Magazine, 31 July 2022

There, on January 4, 1656, the galleon lost its bearings. —Sean Kingsley, Smithsonian Magazine, 31 July 2022

In July 1693, a large Spanish galleon set sail from the Philippines with a full cargo load of Asian luxury goods, including silk, porcelain and beeswax. —New York Times, 12 July 2022

Last month, a team of maritime archaeologists painstakingly recovered more than a dozen timbers from sea caves along the coast that researchers said were almost certainly pieces of the galleon that disappeared, the Santo Cristo de Burgos. —New York Times, 12 July 2022

See More

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