triremis

Forms

trirēmis (neuter trirēme); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1] The noun is trirēmis, genitive trirēmis, feminine.^[1][2] The inscription of the Columna Rostrata has the spelling triresmos.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from tri- (“three”) and rēmus (“oar”) with the adjective ending -is;^[3][1] Wiktionary suggests it may be a calque of Ancient Greek τριήρης (triḗrēs).^[1] De Vaan reconstructs rēmus as Proto-Italic *rē(s)mo- (“oar”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁-(s)mo- (“oar”), and compares Ancient Greek ἐρετμόν (eretmón, “oar”) and Lithuanian ìrklas (“oar”).^[4] The ⟨-resmos⟩ of the Columna Rostrata, an inscription of 260 BC probably renewed in the 1st century AD, may show an old /s/, but de Vaan warns that the whole text may be archaizing.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from Caesar, who uses it both as an adjective with nāvēs and as a noun.^[4][5][2]

Semantic evolution

It is said of a ship with three oars to each bench, and as a feminine noun it is the ship itself, the trireme.^[3][2] Caesar and Nepos use the adjective, and Caesar and Cicero the noun.^[2] Church Latin glosses it as a galley with three banks of oars.^[6]

Timeline

• 260 BC – the date of the Columna Rostrata, probably renewed later, which has the spelling triresmos.^[4]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar of ships with three banks of oars.^[2][5]
• c. 1600 – English trireme is borrowed from it.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of ships, having three oars to each bench, with three banks of oars.^[3][2][1]

Noun

1. A trireme.^[3][2][6][1]

Related words

• rēmus
• birēmis
• rēmex
• English trireme

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 g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com