Meanings
plural galleons
- A large, three-masted, square rigged sailing ship with at least two decks.
1 more example
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.
1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 220
Origin
- Middle Frenchgalion
- Englishgalleon
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.
More words from Middle French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Basque galeoi
- galeoilarge sailing ship
Catalan galió
- galiólarge sailing ship
Chinese Mandarin 西班牙大帆船, 加利恩帆船
- 西班牙大帆船 (xībānyá dà fánchuán)large sailing ship
- 加利恩帆船 (jiālì'ēn fānchuán)large sailing ship
- 蓋倫帆船 /盖伦帆船 (gàilún fānchuán)large sailing ship
- 大型帆船 (dàxíng fānchuán)large sailing ship
Czech galeona
- galeonalarge sailing ship
Danish galeon
- galeonlarge sailing ship
Dutch galjoen
- galjoenlarge sailing ship
Estonian galeoon
- galeoonlarge sailing ship
Finnish kaljuuna, galeoni
- kaljuunalarge sailing ship
- galeonilarge sailing ship
French galion
- galionlarge sailing ship
German Galeone
- Galeonelarge sailing ship
Greek γαλιόνι
- γαλιόνι (galióni)large sailing ship
Hebrew גליאון
- גליאוןlarge sailing ship
Hungarian galleon
- galleonlarge sailing ship
Icelandic galíon
- galíonlarge sailing ship
Italian galeone
- galeonelarge sailing ship
Japanese ガレオン船
- ガレオン船 (gareon sen)large sailing ship
Norwegian Bokmål gallion
- gallionlarge sailing ship
Polish galeon, galeona
- galeonlarge sailing ship
- galeonalarge sailing ship
Portuguese galeão
- galeãolarge sailing ship
Romanian galion
- galionlarge sailing ship
Russian галео́н
- галео́н (galeón)large sailing ship
Slovak galeóna
- galeónalarge sailing ship
Spanish galeón
- galeónlarge sailing ship
Swedish galeon
- galeonlarge sailing ship
Tagalog galyon, galeyon
- galyonlarge sailing ship
- galeyonlarge sailing ship
Turkish kalyon
- kalyonlarge sailing ship
Ukrainian галіон
- галіон (halion)large sailing ship
Welsh galiwn, galiynau
- galiwnlarge sailing ship
- galiynaularge sailing ship
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
galleon. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/galleon
“galleon.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/galleon. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “galleon,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/galleon.
Source: galleon on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.