cargason

English

Etymology

From French cargaison, Spanish cargazón, from Latin cargare (“to load”). See cargo.

Noun

cargason (plural cargasons)

1. (obsolete) A cargo; a load of goods transported.
   • 1625 January 25, John Donne, “A Sermon Preached at St. Dunstans January 15. 1625 [Julian calendar]. The First Sermon after Our Dispersion, by the Sickness.”, in XXVI. Sermons (Never before Publish’d) Preached by that Learned and Reverend Divine John Donne, […], London: […] Thomas Newcomb, […], published 1661, →OCLC, page 295:

     Diſcretion is the ballaſt of our Ship, that carries us ſteady; but Zeal is the very Fraight, the Cargaſon, the Merchandiſe it ſelf, which enriches us in the land of the living; and this was our caſe, we were all come to eſteem our Ballaſt more then our Fraight, our Diſcretion more then our Zeal; we had more care to pleaſe great men then God; more conſideration of an imaginary change of times, then of unchangeable eternity it ſelf.

References

• “cargason”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.