sargasso

noun

sar·​gas·​so sär-ˈga-(ˌ)sō How to pronounce sargasso (audio)
plural sargassos
1
2
: a mass of floating vegetation and especially sargassums

Examples of sargasso in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Some features are impossible to miss, like the multi-tiered adults-only and separate family pools, plus two miles of white-sand beach (where the sargasso seaweed is caught with nets and meticulously cleaned from the beach each morning). Devorah Lev-Tov, Travel + Leisure, 5 June 2023 From May to October, Tulum, like the rest of the Caribbean, suffers from hard-to-manage quantities of sargasso seaweed. Jamie Ditaranto, Travel + Leisure, 15 Apr. 2023 Like the rest of the Caribbean, Tulum sometimes suffers from the scourge of sargasso seaweed. Jamie Ditaranto, Travel + Leisure, 5 Aug. 2021

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sargasso.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Portuguese sargaço, apparently the same word as sargaço, sargaça "the flowering plant Halimium lasianthum, related to the rockrose," of uncertain origin

Note: Traced by Coromines (Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico) along with Spanish jaguarzo to a putative Mozarabic *xaugaçro, going back to Latin salicastrum, a plant of uncertain identity named by Pliny.

First Known Use

1598, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of sargasso was in 1598

Dictionary Entries Near sargasso

Cite this Entry

“Sargasso.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sargasso. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

sargasso

noun
sar·​gas·​so sär-ˈgas-ō How to pronounce sargasso (audio)
plural sargassos
1
2
: a mass of floating plants and especially sargassums
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