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gal·ley (gălē)
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n. pl. gal·leys
1. Nautical
a. A large, usually single-decked medieval ship of shallow draft, propelled by sails and oars and used as a merchant ship or warship in the Mediterranean.
b. An ancient Mediterranean seagoing vessel propelled by oars.
c. A large rowboat formerly used by British customs officers.
2. The kitchen of an airliner, ship, or camper.
3.
a. A long, usually metal tray, used for assembling lines of printers' type in composing proofs and pages.
b. A proof made with printer's type before page composition to allow for the detection and correction of errors.
[Middle English galei, from Old French galie, from Old Provençal or Catalan galea, from Medieval Greek, probably variant of Greek galeos, shark, perhaps from galeē, weasel.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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