argosy

Etymology

Alteration of Italian ragusea (“a large ship”), after the maritime city of Ragusa, now Dubrovnik.

Noun

argosy (plural argosies)

1. A merchant ship.
2. A merchant flotilla, fleet.
   • 1594, Shakespeare, [Taming of the Shrew]:

     Gremio, 'tis known my father hath no less Than three great argosies, besides two galliasses, And twelve tight galleys; these I will assure her, And twice as much, whate'er thou offer'st next.

3. A collection of lore.
   • 1921, Sir James George Frazer, Apollodorus: The Library (Loeb Classical Library), volume I, Introduction, § 1: “The Author and His Book”, page xxxiii:

     Yet we may be grateful to him for saving for us from the wreck of ancient literature some waifs and strays which, but for his humble labours, might have sunk irretrievably with so many golden argosies in the fathomless ocean of the past.

Anagrams

• yorgas