argosy

noun

1. A merchant ship.
2. A merchant flotilla, fleet.

   “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. An abundant supply, boatload.

   “The wreck was total—as total as that ever is which trusts its all to one argosy.”

   “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.”

   “Pushkin's passage adumbrates the specific contents of Atravinsky's first and third tableaux, which suggests it may actually have helped guide the composer's imagination as he threaded his way among the songs in Kireyevsky's, Tereshchenko's, and Sakharov's immense argosies of wedding lore.”

   “Returning to the Shakespeare lines with which this discussion began, one should note that “Rose” is nowhere to be found among the hundred currently most popular girls' given names in America, having been elbowed out by argosies of Tiffanys, Courtneys, Kimberlys et al.”

name

1. Popular anglicism of the Argonautika of Apollonios Rhodios.

   “Roger chuckled. "I hope you don't think I'm a mere highbrow," he said. "As a customer said to me once, without meaning to be funny, `I like both the Iliad and the Argosy.' The only thing I can't stand is literature that is unfairly and intentionally flavoured with vanilla. Confectionery soon disgusts the palate, whether you find it in Marcus Aurelius or Doctor Crane.”