sargasso

noun

sar·​gas·​so sär-ˈga-(ˌ)sō 

plural sargassos

1

: gulfweed, sargassum

2

: a mass of floating vegetation and especially sargassums

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Like the rest of the Caribbean, Tulum sometimes suffers from the scourge of sargasso seaweed. —Jamie Ditaranto, Travel + Leisure, 5 Aug. 2021

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Portuguese sargaço, apparently the same word as sargaço, sargaça "the flowering plant Halimium lasianthum, related to the rockrose," of uncertain origin

Note: Traced by Coromines (Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico) along with Spanish jaguarzo to a putative Mozarabic *xaugaçro, going back to Latin salicastrum, a plant of uncertain identity named by Pliny.

First Known Use

1598, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

sargasso

noun

sar·​gas·​so sär-ˈgas-ō 

plural sargassos

1

: sargassum

2

: a mass of floating plants and especially sargassums