Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An ancient Greek or Roman galley or warship, having three tiers of oars on each side.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A vessel with three benches, ranks, or tiers of oars on a side: a type of ancient Greek war-ship of great efficiency, copied by the Romans and other peoples.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Class. Antiq.) An ancient galley or vessel with tree banks, or tiers, of oars.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun history, nautical, archaic A
galley with three banks of oars, one above the other, used mainly as a warship.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun ancient Greek or Roman galley or warship having three tiers of oars on each side
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The word trireme comes from three and "remus," meaning oar.
Epic Struggle: Fans Fight to Revive an Oar-Powered Greek Warship Sophia Hollander 2011
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In fact, the name trireme was used loosely for all ships of war whether they had two banks of oars or three.
A History of Sea Power William Oliver Stevens 1916
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Rowing a Trireme on the Hudson A group of New Yorkers is trying to restore a full-scale model of the ancient Athenian warship known as a trireme and row it in the city's harbor on July 4 next year.
Epic Struggle: Fans Fight to Revive an Oar-Powered Greek Warship Sophia Hollander 2011
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A New York-based non-profit is trying to restore a full-scale replica of the ancient Athenian warship known as a trireme and row it in the city's harbor.
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First, a trireme from the Greek island of Samothrace, fighting for Persia, rammed an Athenian trireme.
The Battle of Salamis Barry Strauss 2004
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First, a trireme from the Greek island of Samothrace, fighting for Persia, rammed an Athenian trireme.
The Battle of Salamis Barry Strauss 2004
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For the countrymen of Phormio had now reverted to the primitive conditions of naval warfare, in which the trireme was a mere vehicle for carrying troops, and not, as in the days of that great captain, the chief weapon of offence.
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At the time of the Persian war the trireme was the standard type of warship, as it had been for the hundred years before, and continued to be during the hundred years that followed.
A History of Sea Power William Oliver Stevens 1916
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The nominal, and sometimes actual, commander of the trireme is her trierarch; but obviously a cultivated old gentleman like Eustathius is no man to manage the ship in a sea fight.
A Day in Old Athens; a Picture of Athenian Life William Stearns Davis 1903
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For him a trireme is a most marvelous and magnificent sight.
A Day in Old Athens; a Picture of Athenian Life William Stearns Davis 1903
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