Penteconter definitions and example sentences on Wordnik

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To get more oars all on one tier you must make a longer boat, but you could not increase the beam, for, if you did, the whole craft would get so heavy that it would not row rapidly; and the penteconter was already so long in relation to its beam as to be somewhat unsafe.

—A Day in Old Athens; a Picture of Athenian Life

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Definitions (3)

American Heritage Dictionary

Century Dictionary (2)

An ancient Greek ship of burden carrying fifty oars.
In Greek antiquity, a commander of fifty men. N. E. D.

GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

WordNet

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Examples (24)

To get more oars all on one tier you must make a longer boat, but you could not increase the beam, for, if you did, the whole craft would get so heavy that it would not row rapidly; and the penteconter was already so long in relation to its beam as to be somewhat unsafe. — A Day in Old Athens; a Picture of Athenian Life
Some of these island contingents contained a type of ship different from the triremes, the penteconter. — A History of Sea Power
The penteconter was an early prototype of the galley of the Christian era. — A History of Sea Power
Set them by the boat mast, so the sail can hide our pretty deed from the penteconter. — A Victor of Salamis
Lars’s clamour could surely be heard on the penteconter. — A Victor of Salamis