Pronounced: PEN-sihv, adj
Notes: I know the word, but I had the definition slightly wrong
Yesterday’s word
The word argosy is
- a large ship; especially a large merchant ship
- a rich supply
First usage
Our word came into English in the late 1500s
Background / Comments
Looking at our word, I saw “argo” and thought of “Argo” (the ship on which Jason set sail to seek the Golden Fleece in Greek mythology). It seemed like the right origin, but it is not. Our word actually came from Ragusa, which is the Italian name for the city that is now called Dubrovnik in Croatia. In time, Ragusa became ragusea, a name for the laden merchant ships that sailed from that port in medieval days. Over time, the spelling changed and the meaning broadened, given us our word.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 