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

Contemporary sources suggested that cannon fire struck a stash of gunpowder aboard the San José, triggering a massive explosion that caused the ship to sink, but more recent research points to the galleon splitting open. —Aurora Martínez, Smithsonian Magazine, 23 June 2025

Reflecting the masts and sails of a Spanish galleon rising from the sand, the installation symbolizes irreversible choices and the sacrifices required for collective liberation. —Lilian Raji, Forbes, 26 Nov. 2024

There’s no music, either, to soften or ennoble proceedings, only the indifferent murmur of weather over the startling debris of human conflict, or the slow creak of a galleon on lapping waters as sailors are sent cruelly to their deaths. —Guy Lodge, Variety, 28 May 2025

The San Salvador is a replica of explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo’s 16th-century Spanish galleon, the first European ship to reach what is now known as San Diego in 1542, according to the Maritime Museum of San Diego. —San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 May 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