[ad. L. birēmis, adj. and sb., f. bi- two, twice + rēmus oar.] A. adj. Having two banks of oars. B. sb. A galley having two banks of oars.
1600. Holland, Livy, VII. vi. 1399, note. The forme of a bireme gally.
1662. J. Bargrave, Pope Alex. VII. (1867), 118. Their byremes & tryremes being but pitiful boats.
1697. Potter, Antiq. Greece, III. xiv. (1715), 125. Betwixt an Unireme and Bireme, consisting of a Bank and a Half.
1858. Rawlinson, Herodotus, I. 290, note. Biremes were probably a Phœnician invention.
