Pronounced: ROU-uhl, noun/verb
Notes: Some people may know this word
Yesterday’s word
The word argosy means
- a large ship; especially a large merchant ship
- a rich supply
Background / Comments
Although it looks like it, argosy is not related to argonaut. Argosy comes from Ragusa, which is the Italian name for the city which is not Dubrovnik in Croatia. Over time, Ragusa mutated into ragusea, the word for the laden merchant ships that sailed from Ragusa. As time went on the spelling changed to argosy. In addition, as is the case with many words, the meaning broadened to mean any merchant vessel or rich store.
First usage
The word came into English in the late 1500s
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