Definition of john cabot in English English dictionary
an Italian sailor and explorer who worked for the English king Henry VII, and who reached the coast of North America in 1497 (?1450-98). orig. Giovanni Caboto born 1450, Genoa? died 1499 Italian navigator and explorer. In the 1470s he became a skilled navigator in travels to the eastern Mediterranean for a Venetian mercantile firm. In the 1490s he moved to Bristol, Eng., and, with support from city merchants, he led an expedition in 1497 to find trade routes to Asia. After landing somewhere in North America, possibly southern Labrador or Cape Breton Island, he took possession of the land for Henry VII and conducted explorations along the coastline. On a second expedition in 1498, he may have reached America but probably was lost at sea. His two voyages for England helped lay the groundwork for the later British claim to Canada. Sebastian Cabot was his son
{i} (c1450-1499, as Giovanni Caboto) Italian explorer who led the English expedition discovering the mainland of North America in 1497 (in 1498 he sailed off for a second expedition, during which it is believed he died at sea)