WORD FOR THE DAY: PERIPLUS

Your word for today is: periplus, n.

periplus, n.

[‘ An account or narrative of a circumnavigation or other voyage; a manual of navigation.’]

Pronunciation: Brit. /ˈpɛrᵻplʌs/,  U.S. /ˈpɛrəˌpləs/

Inflections:  Plural  peripli,  periploi, (rare) peripluses, (rare) periplouses.

Forms:  17– periplus,   19– periplous. 

Etymology: <  classical Latin periplūs account of a circumnavigation (Pliny, as the title of a work by Xenophon) <  ancient Greek περίπλους circumnavigation, manoeuvre in naval warfare, in Hellenistic Greek also account of a circumnavigation <  περι- peri- prefix+ πλοῦς (uncontracted πλόος) voyage < an ablaut variant of the base of πλεῖν to swim (see pleon n.¹). Compare French périple (1629), Spanish periplo (1756 or earlier), Italian periplo (a1789).

For use of the Greek word in work titles see quot. 1869 at sense 1a.

 1.

 a.  An account or narrative of a circumnavigation or other voyage; a manual of navigation.

1701  E. Wells Treat. Antient & Present Geogr. xvi. 146 Read the most Learned Mr. Dodwell's Dissertations concerning thePeriplus of Hanno.

1768 Philos. Trans. 1767 (Royal Soc.) 57 165 Ptolemy..agrees with the author of the Periplus of the Red sea.

1803  W. Taylor in Ann. Rev. 1 438 Many a periplus, many an itinerary was published.

1869  H. G. Liddell  & R. Scott Greek Lex. (ed. 6), Periplus is the title of several geograph. works, still extant, by Scylax, Nearchus, Agatharchides, Hanno.

1904 Eng. Hist. Rev. Jan. 139  (note) This Greek original was made up from a periplus from the Pillars of Hercules to Gades.

1995  A. P. Smyth Alfred the Great xviii. 540 Alfred had read that work and was ultimately responsible for contributing the Scandinavian periplus to it.

 b.  A circuit; a circumnavigation; a voyage or journey round a coastline; an epic journey, an odyssey.

1776  R. Chandler Trav. Greece 221 The harbour of Epidaurus is long. Its periplus or circuit has fifteen stadia.

1845 Q. Rev. 76 123 Certainly to make the periplus of the Mediterranean in one's own yacht..would seem to be the perfection of pleasure.

1854  T. De Quincey Autobiogr. Sketches in Select. Grave & Gay II. 92 My mother now entered upon a periplus, or systematic circumnavigation of all England.

1963  C. Irwin Fair Gods & Stone Faces xviii. 234 The date of Hanno's periplus is uncertain, for the name of Hanno was common in Carthage.

1999 Bks. in Canada (Nexis) Oct., I think he was touched by my ocean-crossing dedication, as unlikely a periplus as his own marine itinerary.

 2.  Ancient Greek Naut. A manoeuvre in naval warfare involving sailing round an enemy fleet.

This manoeuvre was favoured by faster, lighter ships; it facilitated ramming from the side or the rear.

1850  G. Grote Hist. Greece VII. ii. lx. 448  (note) The periplus practised by a lighter ship to avoid direct collision against a heavier.

1963 Harvard Stud. Classical Philol. 67 31 ATL..assumes that the first event in the digression follows the last preceding event, the periplous of Tolmides, and that the first events which follow come after the Egyptian disaster.

1986  J. S. Morrison  & J. F. Coates Athenian Trireme v. 82 The Athenians, with their double periplous, scored a clear tactical victory.

Written by NativeEnglish

Native English Spain is dedicated to make learning English simple, fun and affordable for Spanish people.