Gal"le*ass (?; 135), n. [F. gal'easse, gal'eace; cf. It. galeazza, Sp. galeaza; LL. galea a galley. See Galley.] Naut.
A large galley, having some features of the galleon, as broadside guns; esp., such a vessel used by the southern nations of Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. See Galleon, and Galley.
[Written variously
galeas,
gallias, etc.]
⇒ "The galleasses . . . were a third larger than the ordinary galley, and rowed each by three hundred galley slaves. They consisted of an enormous towering structure at the stern, a castellated structure almost equally massive in front, with seats for the rowers amidships."
Motley.
© Webster 1913.