carrack

American  

[kar-uhk] / ˈkær ək /

Or carack

noun

1. a merchant vessel having various rigs, used especially by Mediterranean countries in the 15th and 16th centuries; galleon.

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carrack British  

/ ˈkærək /

noun

1. a galleon sailed in the Mediterranean as a merchantman in the 15th and 16th centuries

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Etymology

Origin of carrack

1350–1400; Middle English carrake < Middle French carraque < Spanish carraca, perhaps back formation from Arabic qarāqīr (plural of qurqūr ship of burden < Greek kérkouros ), the -īr being taken as plural ending

Example Sentences

When they disembarked from the leaky, fetid carrack, they stepped foot on a land already cleared by death’s scythe.

From Washington Times • Sep. 22, 2020

Sixteen years later, a priest and a single-minded evangelist, he left Lisbon on a Portuguese carrack to found the Jesuit missions in Asia.

From Time Magazine Archive

In 1509, Bluff King Hal named the 130-ft., 700-ton, four-masted carrack, which became the vice flagship of his royal fleet, Mary Rose, after his favorite sister.

From Time Magazine Archive

It was a carrack, that type of vessel with high structures called “castles” in its bow and stern and a low expanse of decking in the middle.

From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler

The admiral now gave Luis his blessing, and, taking leave of Mercedes in the same solemn manner, he hastened to his carrack.

From Mercedes of Castile The Voyage to Cathay by Cooper, J. Fenimore