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Glite Dictionary
⛵ A sea journey 📜 A voyage record
periplus

periplus

9.9
A sea journey along a coast or around an island
  • noun
  • /ˈpɛrəˌplʌs/
  • Archaic
translation icon : periplo
  • To understand the maritime history better, the students studied a periplus from the 1st century AD.

Examples

  • Marshall AJ, Beehler BM, eds. 2007. The Ecology of Papua. Periplus.

    Academic text (2011)

  • During the expedition, the sailors relied on an old periplus to navigate around the islands.

  • The ancient geographer wrote a periplus that detailed the coastlines and harbors of the Mediterranean Sea.

Synonyms

passage
vsperiplus
41 3.8

A journey by ship from one place to another

describes navigation that goes around an area rather than point-to-point travel
to voyage
vsperiplus
3 4.0

To travel by ship or boat over a long distance

focuses on navigation around a nearby region rather than long open sea trips
circumnavigation
vsperiplus
2 8.2

A trip that goes all the way around something, for example the Earth, by ship or plane

is limited to navigation around a local region rather than a full circuit
ocean trip
vsperiplus
1 1.4

A journey across the ocean by ship or boat

is about sailing around a region or shore rather than crossing open ocean

Surface Forms

periplus singular
peripli plural

Morphology

periplus = peri + plous

The word is built from Greek combining forms ('peri-' + 'plous') that are not productive or familiar to average learners, so the meaning cannot be reliably derived from the parts.

Etymology

The word periplus comes from Greek parts peri- 'around' and -plous 'voyage', and the peri- part is the same as in perimeter. So a periplus is a sea trip that goes 'around' a coast or island, meaning the navigation or route sailors follow.