trireme

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin trirēmis (“having three banks of oars”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} formed from tri- (“three”) and rēmus (“oar”),^[2][7][5][6] the second part from Proto-Indo-European *ere- (“to row”).^[5][7] The Shorter Oxford and Hoad allow French trirème as a second source,^[8][9] a form the OED records in French from about 1352.^[2] Ayto suggests that the Latin word for an oar may ultimately be related to oar, though the origin of that word is unclear.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

An ancient galley with three ranks of oars: 1601, in P. Holland's translation of Pliny's Natural History.^[2][4] Merriam-Webster Unabridged gives 1600,^[6] and the Shorter Oxford the late 16th century.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The word has always named an ancient ship, so the Shorter Oxford labels it historical.^[8] The OED describes a galley that was first Greek and later Roman as well, with the ranks of oars set one above another, used chiefly in war.^[2] Etymonline adds that the Athenians perfected the type, and that with a trained crew it was a very efficient, highly manoeuvrable ramming ship.^[5] Johnson (1755) defined it as a galley with three benches of oars on a side.^[11] The adjective, of a galley having three ranks of oars, follows the noun from 1699.^[2]

Timeline

• 1601 – noun, an ancient galley with three ranks of oars.^[2][4] Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates it to 1600.^[6]
• 1699 – adjective, having three ranks of oars.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. An ancient galley, first developed by the Greeks as a warship, with three banks of oars on each side.^[12][6][2]

Adjective

1. Of a galley, having three ranks of oars.^[2][8]

Related words

• bireme
• quadrireme
• row

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins