Etymologically
Log in

quinqueremis

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 08:44. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kʷiːŋ.kʷɛˈreː.mɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [kʷiŋ.kʷeˈrɛː.mis][1]

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]

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