quadriremis

Forms

quadrirēmis f (genitive quadrirēmis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from quadri- (“four”) and rēmus (“oar”) with the 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]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,^[3] who has a man leave port in a quadrireme from Centuripae.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It is a type of galley, which the OLD takes as probably one with four rowers to every room, and Lewis & Short as having four banks of oars.^[2][5] Caesar, Livy and Pliny the Elder mention quadriremes, and inscriptions name them.^[5] Paulinus of Nola uses it as an adjective, having four banks of oars.^[5][3]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of a quadrireme from Centuripae.^[5][3]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar of five quadriremes.^[5]
• c. 353–431 AD – Paulinus of Nola as an adjective.^[5][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A quadrireme, a galley with four rowers to a room or four banks of oars.^[2][5][1]

Related words

• rēmus
• trirēmis
• quīnquerēmis

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ 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 f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press