ARGOSY (a corruption, by transposition of letters, of the name of the seaport

See also:

• RAGUSA
• RAGUSA (Serbo-Croatian Dubrovnik)

Ragusa)  , the term originally for a carrack or merchant ship'from Ragusa and other Adriatic ports, now used poetically of any vessel carrying rich merchandise . In English writings of the 16th century the seaport named is variously spelt Ragusa, Aragouse or Aragosa, and ships coming thence were named Ragusyes, Arguzes and Argosies; the last form surviving and passing into literature . The incorrect derivation from Jason's ship, the " Argo," is of modern origin .