triremen.adj.
/ˈtrʌɪriːm/, U.S. /ˈtraɪˌrim/ A. n.
An ancient galley (originally Greek, afterwards also Roman) with three ranks of oars one above another, used chiefly as a ship of war.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessels propelled by oars or poles > [noun] > vessels propelled by oars and sails > galley > with specific number of banks of oars
quinquereme1553
quadrireme1587
trireme1601
pentereme1656
biremea1680
unireme1699
octeresa1703
octoreme1799
triaconter1859
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. vii. lvi. 190 Aminocles the Corinthian built the first Trireme with three rowes of ores to a side.
1656 T. Blount Glossographia Trireme (trirēmis), a Galley wherein every oare had three men to it, or a Galley that hath three oares on every side.
a1680 J. Bargrave Pope Alexander VII (1867) ii. 118 They having then no such ships as we have now, their byremes and tryremes being but pittiful boats.
1776 C. Burney Gen. Hist. Music I. 185 In the triremes, or vessels of three banks of oars, there was always a tibicen, or flute-player.
1868 W. Smith Smaller Dict. Greek & Rom. Antiq. (ed. 7) 262/1 Triremes..were..divided into two classes: the one consisting of real men-of-war,..and the other of transports.
B. adj.
Having three ranks of oars.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessels propelled by oars or poles > [adjective] > with (spec. number of) banks of oars
bireme1600
quadrireme1600
trireme1699
well-benched1784
twi-banked1875
double-banked-
1699 J. Potter Archæologiæ Græcæ II. iii. xiv. 134 Trireme, quadrireme, and quinquereme Gallies, which exceeded one another by a Bank of Oars.
1839 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece VII. lvi. 165 A fleet was to be equipped of forty trireme galleys.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1915; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1601