quinqueremis

Forms

quīnquerēmis (neuter quīnquerēme); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin quīnque (“five”) + rēmus (“oar”) + -is.^[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,^[3] who has it in the Verrines, in quinqueremi.^[4]

Semantic evolution

As an adjective it is used with nāvis, of a large galley, and as a feminine noun it is the galley itself, a quinquereme.^[2][4] The OLD takes it to be a ship probably with five rowers to each “room”,^[2] Lewis & Short one with five banks of oars.^[4] Livy uses it often in his naval narratives, and Pliny the Elder also has it.^[4]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero, in the Verrines.^[4][3]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy, of fleets of quinqueremes.^[4][3]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder.^[4][3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of a ship, having five oarsmen to each unit or five banks of oars.^[2][4][1]

Noun

1. A quinquereme, a large galley.^[2][4][1]

Related words

• quīnque
• rēmus
• trirēmis
• quadrirēmis

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press