galleon

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɡæ.li.ən/ (UK); /ˈɡæ.li.ən/, /ˈɡæl.jən/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French galion and directly borrowed from Spanish galeón (“armed merchant ship”),^[2][3][4][5] an augmentative of galea “galley”,^[6][2][3][5] from Byzantine Greek galéa.^[2][3] It is related to galley.^[6][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A kind of large ship, especially a Spanish warship or treasure ship (1529).^[7][2][4][3]

Semantic evolution

The galleon, developed in the 15th and 16th centuries, was shorter, broader and higher at the stern than the galley.^[3][7] In English the word was used especially of Spanish royal treasure ships and the warships that escorted merchant fleets in the American trade.^[3][7] Figuratively a galleon was a great prize, alluding to the capture of Spanish galleons by English privateers (1706–07).^[7] The Italian augmentative galeazza gave the different ship name galleass (1540s).^[3]

Timeline

• 1529 – the ship.^[7][2][4]
• 1540s – galliass.^[3]
• 1706–07 – a great prize.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A large square-rigged sailing ship with three or more masts and two or more decks, used from the 15th to the 17th or early 18th century, especially by Spain, as a warship or merchant ship.

Related words

• galleass
• galley
• frigate
• carrack

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
6. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press