# What's an argosy?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-an-argosy/471683>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 7, 2008, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-an-argosy/471683 "2008-11-07T18:46:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-an-argosy/471683/1 "2008-11-07T18:46:32Z")

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Around the Cleveland area, in the older pre-WWII inner ring suburbs, there’s a good deal of garden and smaller walkup apartment buildings named “The Argosy”. Looking at advertising from the 1920s, I’ve also noticed a large number of products named “Argosy”. The use of the word “Argosy” to name something seems to dramatically fall after WWII.

Question: what the hell is an argosy, anyhow? Google hasn’t helped much.

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**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-an-argosy/471683/2 "2008-11-07T18:49:49Z")

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Try the dictionary:

1. Nautical  
a. A large merchant ship.  
b. A fleet of ships.

2. A rich source or supply: an argosy of adventure lore.

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**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-an-argosy/471683/3 "2008-11-07T18:50:04Z")

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ar⋅go⋅sy   /ˈɑrgəsi/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [ahr-guh-see] Show IPA Pronunciation

–noun, plural -sies. 1. a large merchant ship, esp. one with a rich cargo.  
2. a fleet of such ships.  
3. an opulent supply.

I guess it’s like Armada.

ETA: Almost simulpost with yabob: Seems to imply a kind of adventure and exoticism, maybe because Cleveland is a port.

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**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-an-argosy/471683/4 "2008-11-07T18:53:17Z")

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According to Wikipedia (an endless fount of trivia like this) it’s derived from the former name of Dubrovnik in Croatia, and not from Jason’s ship the Argo (as I thought it was).