trimaran
Meaning
A sailing boat with three parallel hulls.
Structure
Usage
The sleek trimaran cut through the waves at an impressive speed.
They embarked on a round-the-world voyage in their custom-built trimaran.
The stability of a trimaran makes it popular for long-distance cruising.
Etymology
The word 'trimaran' is a modern 20th-century construction, formed by analogy with the older nautical term 'catamaran'. The prefix 'tri-', from Greek and Latin, directly indicates the vessel's defining feature of having three hulls. The second element '-maran' is borrowed from 'catamaran', which originates from the Tamil word for logs tied together. Therefore, the term's literal logic is transparent: a 'three-(hulled) catamaran', efficiently describing its structure in relation to its two-hulled predecessor.
Analysis
- tri: From Latin and Greek tri-, meaning 'three'. A numerical prefix. - maran: A clipped form of 'catamaran', itself from Tamil kaṭṭumaram, meaning 'tied wood'. Serves as the base word for a multi-hulled vessel.