Galleon
noun ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A large, three-masted, square rigged sailing ship with at least two decks.
"The next day he returned to camp with the balance of his ingots, and when they were stored on board the cruiser Captain Dufranne said he felt like the commander of an old-time Spanish galleon returning from the treasure cities of the Aztecs. “I don’t know what minute my crew will cut my throat, and take over the ship,” he added."
- 2 a large square-rigged sailing ship with three or more masts; used by the Spanish for commerce and war from the 15th to 18th centuries wordnet
Example
More examples"The museum displayed historic bullion recovered from a sunken Spanish galleon."
Etymology
From Middle French galion or Spanish galeón. Originally an augmentative form of a Romance language cognate of galley, the word spread around the Mediterranean from the 12th century, taking on different meanings depending on place and time.
Related phrases
More for "galleon"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.