Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Greek Mythology The ship in which Jason sailed in search of the Golden Fleece.
  • noun Formerly, a constellation in the Southern Hemisphere, lying between Canis Major and the Southern Cross, now divided into four smaller constellations, Carina, Puppis, Pyxis, and Vela.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In Greek myth, the name of the ship in which Jason and his fifty-four companions sailed to Colchis in quest of the golden fleece.
  • noun An ancient southern constellation, the largest in the heavens.
  • noun [lowercase] In zoology, the technical specific name of the paper-nautilus. Argonauta argo.
  • noun In conchology, a genus of nudibranchiate gastropods: synonymous with Doris.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Myth.) The name of the ship which carried Jason and his fifty-four companions to Colchis, in quest of the Golden Fleece.
  • noun (Astron.) A large constellation in the southern hemisphere, called also Argo Navis. In modern astronomy it is replaced by its three divisions, Carina, Puppis, and Vela.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun Greek mythology The ship in which Jason and the Argonauts sailed on their quest for the Golden Fleece.
  • proper noun astronomy Argo Navis, a large constellation in the southern hemisphere, now divided into Carina, Puppis, and Vela.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun formerly a large constellation in the southern hemisphere between Canis Major and the Southern Cross; now divided into Carina and Pyxis and Puppis and Vela

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin Argō, from Greek.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin Argo, from Ancient Greek Ἀργώ (Argō), the mythical ship of the Argonauts

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Examples

  • We have a couple of things we're developing and we have a deal together over at Warner Bros, but he's making a great movie right now called 'Argo.'

    Matt Damon On Ben Affleck's Tough 'Gigli' Years, Working Together Again 2011

  • Giasone's dissipation was signaled by his unknotted tuxedo tie; the Argo was a modern speedboat; Isifile had a pink minidress with a Jackie Kennedy pillbox hat; the Golden Fleece was a big, shaggy coat; and Delfa's outfit was channeling Dame Edna.

    On a Tattered Shoestring 2010

  • Giasone's dissipation was signaled by his unknotted tuxedo tie; the Argo was a modern speedboat; Isifile had a pink minidress with a Jackie Kennedy pillbox hat; the Golden Fleece was a big, shaggy coat; and Delfa's outfit was channeling Dame Edna.

    On a Tattered Shoestring 2010

  • So Willis has been studying the ocean with a fleet of robotic instruments called the Argo system.

    Has global warming taken a hiatus??? GayandRight 2008

  • The Argo was a long-voyage ship, designed to keep every drop of water, every sigh of air sealed tight inside its skin.

    Furious Gulf Benford, Gregory, 1941- 1994

  • So the head carpenter and all his journeymen and apprentices began their work; and for a good while afterward there they were busily employed hewing out the timbers and making a great clatter with their hammers, until the new ship, which was called the Argo, seemed to be quite ready for sea.

    Famous Tales of Fact and Fancy Myths and Legends of the Nations of the World Retold for Boys and Girls Logan [Editor] Marshall

  • So the head carpenter and all his journeymen and apprentices began their work; and for a good while afterward there they were busily employed hewing out the timbers and making a great clatter with their hammers, until the new ship, which was called the Argo, seemed to be quite ready for sea.

    Myths and Legends of All Nations Famous Stories from the Greek, German, English, Spanish, Scandinavian, Danish, French, Russian, Bohemian, Italian and other sources Various

  • Jason now applied to Argos, one of the cleverest ship-builders of his time, who, under the guidance of Pallas-Athene, built for him a splendid fifty-oared galley, which was called the Argo, after the builder.

    Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome E.M. Berens

  • Once in Venice I heard a scholar learned in the Greek tell of an old voyage of a ship called Argo, whence its captain and crew were named Argonauts, and he said that it was of all voyages most famous with the ancients.

    1492, 1922

  • One ship only of all that fare by sea hath passed that way, even Argo, that is in all men’s minds, on her voyage from Aeetes.

    Book XII Homer 1909

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