Etymologically
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biremis

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [bɪˈreː.mɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [biˈrɛː.mis][1]

Forms

birēmis (neuter birēme); third-declension two-termination adjective[1] As a noun it is feminine, birēmis, birēmis.[2][1] The grammarian Diomedes says that the ancients called such ships birēmae, but that birēmēs is now better.[3]

Etymology

It is formed from bi- (“two”) and rēmus (“oar”) with the adjective ending ⟨-is⟩.[2][1][3] De Vaan traces rēmus to Proto-Italic *rē(s)mo- (“oar”) and Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁-(s)mo- (“oar”).[4] Cognate with Ancient Greek ἐρετμόν (eretmón, “oar”), Lithuanian ìrklas (“oar”) and Old English rōwan (“to row”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Sisenna;[4] Köbler from Caesar.[5]

Semantic evolution

As an adjective it apparently means having oars or rowers arranged in pairs;[2] Lewis & Short render it two-oared, as of Livy's light boats and Horace's skiff.[6] As a noun it is most often a ship with two banks of oars, a galley,[6] in Cicero's Verrines, Caesar, Tacitus and Suetonius;[6] the OLD notes that the exact arrangement of its oars has not been determined.[2] Lucan uses it of a small vessel with two oars.[6] Pliny the Elder says the Erythraeans were the first to use it.[6] English bireme is from it.[1]

Timeline

  • 120–67 BC – Sisenna.[4][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of galleys, in the Verrines.[6][5]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar, of galleys.[6][5]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace, of a two-oared skiff.[6][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Having oars or rowers arranged in pairs;[2] two-oared;[6] having two banks of oars.[1]

Noun

  1. A bireme, a galley with two banks of oars.[2][6][1]
  2. A small vessel with two oars.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press