a citizen responsible for fitting out a state trireme, esp in Athens
2.
the captain of a trireme
Word origin
C17: from Latin, from Greek triērarkhos, from triērēs equipped with three banks of oars + arkhein to command
trierarch in American English
(ˈtraɪərˌɑrk)
noun
in ancient Greece,
a.
the commander of a trireme
b.
at Athens, a person who built, outfitted, and maintained a trireme for the service of the state
Word origin
L trierarchus < Gr triērarchos < triērēs, a trireme (< tri-, tri- + -ērēs < IE base *erē-, to row, oar > row3, rudder) + archos, leader, chief: see -arch