biremis

Latin

Etymology

From bi- +‎ rēmus (“oar”) +‎ -is.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /biˈreː.mis/, [bɪˈreːmɪs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /biˈre.mis/, [biˈrɛːmis]

Adjective

birēmis (neuter birēme); third-declension two-termination adjective

1. having two banks of oars

Declension

Third-declension two-termination adjective.

	singular			plural
	masc./fem.	neuter		masc./fem.	neuter
nominative	birēmis	birēme		birēmēs	birēmia
genitive	birēmis			birēmium
dative	birēmī			birēmibus
accusative	birēmem	birēme		birēmēs birēmīs	birēmia
ablative	birēmī			birēmibus
vocative	birēmis	birēme		birēmēs	birēmia

Noun

birēmis f (genitive birēmis); third declension

1. bireme: a ship with two banks of oars
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 1.180-183:

     Aenēās scopulum intereā cōnscendit, et omnem
     prōspectum lātē pelagō petit, Anthea sī quem
     iactātum ventō videat Phrygiāsque birēmīs,
     aut Capyn, aut celsīs in puppibus arma Caīcī.

     Meanwhile, Aeneas scales a cliff, and searches the whole panorama across the wide open sea, if perhaps he could see anything of Antheus, storm-tossed by wind, and the Phrygian biremes, or [maybe] Capys, or the shields of Caicus upon [his] lofty stern.

Declension

Third-declension noun (i-stem, ablative singular in -e or -ī).

	singular	plural
nominative	birēmis	birēmēs
genitive	birēmis	birēmium
dative	birēmī	birēmibus
accusative	birēmem	birēmēs birēmīs
ablative	birēme birēmī	birēmibus
vocative	birēmis	birēmēs

Descendants

• → English: bireme (learned)
• → French: birème (learned)
• → German: Bireme (learned)
• → Italian: bireme (learned)

Further reading

• “biremis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “biremis”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• biremis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “biremis”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “biremis”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin