bucentaur

British

/ bjuːˈsɛntɔː /

noun

the state barge of Venice from which the doge and other officials dropped a ring into the sea on Ascension Day to symbolize the ceremonial marriage of the state with the Adriatic

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of bucentaur

C17: from Italian bucentoro , of uncertain origin

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

In one of these Beatrice had apparently given a lively account of her triumphs at cards in the games which she had played with her companions on board the bucentaur.

From Beatrice d'Este, Duchess of Milan, 1475-1497 by Ady, Julia Mary Cartwright

In classic mythology the bucentaur was half man and half ox.

From Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama, Vol. 1 A Revised American Edition of the Reader's Handbook by Brewer, Ebenezer Cobham

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023