argosy

Jun. 2nd, 2009 07:22 am
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[personal profile] prettygoodword
argosy - n., a large merchant ship or fleet of merchant ships; a rich supply.


In use since the 1570s, including a couple times in Shakespeare. Has no relationship with the voyage of the good ship Argo of mythology, and using it as a synonym for "odyssey" (originally, voyage of Odysseus) is a misuse. Instead, it is an alteration of ragusye, from the Italian ragusea, a vessel from Ragusa in Dalmatia, an old name for what's now Dubrovnik.

---L.

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