My Collins dictionary helpfully points out that these oars were on each side of the ship, which is certainly true, but has left me wondering whether this was entirely a good thing. It meant the ship could travel in a straight line rather than in constant frantic circles, but then a quinquereme was an extremely nasty thing to have bearing down on you with a view to sinking your own ship.
I may have just solved the problem of naval warfare.
So what use is the word quinquereme to us nowadays?
None whatsoever, as far as I can see, except for the sheer pleasure of saying it.
If you know the beginning of John Masefield's poem Cargoes, and can murmur Quinquireme* of Nineveh from distant Ophir as you go about your day then every hour will surely shimmer with voluptuous joy...
...and quite possibly get you your own seat on the train, too.
Word To Use Caressingly Today: quinquereme. This word comes from the Latin quinquerēmis, from quinque, five, plus rēmus. oar.
*That's how Masefield spells it. I like it, too, personally.
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