maritime, a. and n.
(ˈmærɪtaɪm)
Forms: α. 6 myrytayne, maritayne, 7 maritan(e, maritin, marratine, maretine, 7–8 maritine; β. 7 marittime, 7–8 maritim, 6– maritime.
[ad. L. maritim-us, f. mari-, mare sea + suffix -timus (occurring in fīnitimus neighbouring, lēgitimus lawful; also forming superlatives as intimus inmost, ultimus last).
The β forms are from the L. directly or through mod.F. maritime (cf. Sp. mar{iacu}timo, Pg. maritimo, It. marittimo). An OF. form, maritim, was corrupted, partly owing to confusion of suffixes, into maritin, maritaim, maritain (latinized maritānus), whence the α forms above.]
A. adj.
1. a. Of countries and peoples: Bordering on the sea; living near the sea-coast. † occas. predicative.
| α 1623 Cockeram. Maritan, bordering on the sea. 1627 Hakewill Apol. ii. vi. §3 (1630) 115 And in them specially their maritine parts. 1632 Lithgow Trav. viii. 365 Tents, filled with maritine people, that were fled hither from the Sea coast. 1652 Earl of Monmouth Hist. Rel. Flanders i. vii. 12 Of their Maretine Forces. 1652 ― tr. Bentivoglio's Hist. Relat. 12 The Marratine parts of Friesland. 1654 ― tr. Bentivoglio's Wars Flanders i. iv. 56 The City of Embden,..one of the most considerable Towns of all the Maretine part. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 398 Ercoco and the less Maritine Kings Mombaza [etc.]. |
| β 1598 Barret Theor. Warres v. i. 122 If the confines of the Kingdome bee Maritime or sea coast. 1603 Holland Plutarch's Mor. 489 To inhabit the maritime cities and townes, neere unto the sea side. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 225 Brittany (a marittime part of France). 1654 R. Flecknoe Ten Years Trav. 19 Comparing them with the Maritime Women of other Seas (for the most part fowl, ugly, and weather-beaten). 1673 Temple Observ. United Prov. Wks. 1731 I. 44 The opening and cleansing of the old Channel of the Rhine..by which the Town of Leyden would grow Maritime. 1692 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) II. 359 The king, before he leaves England, intends to visit all the maritime yards. 1726 Swift Gulliver i. v, Seamen, who dwell in the maritime parts. 1813 Vancouver Agric. Devon 1 Devonshire is a maritime county. 1854 Milman Lat. Chr. iv. iv. (1864) II. 265 Though a maritime people, on a line of seacoast, they were ignorant of the art of fishing. |
b. Of animals, plants, etc.: Living or found near the sea.
| 1608 Topsell Serpents (1658) 798 There are Maritine Rocks called Scelestæ. 1763 Mills Syst. Pract. Husb. IV. 409 The antients looked upon the olive as a maritime-tree. 1807 J. E. Smith Phys. Bot. 418 Statice,..a beautiful maritime genus. 1856 Grindon Life xxv. (1875) 319 Broccoli and the cauliflower are modifications of the coarse maritime cabbage. 1881 Greener Gun 525 Undrained and marshy land is..best suited to this bird [the lapwing], whose habits are partly maritime. |
2. Connected with the sea in relation to navigation, commerce, etc.; relating to or dealing with matters of commerce or navigation on the sea.
maritime insurance = marine insurance.
maritime interest, premium or interest on a bottomry bond.
maritime positions, ‘the intersection of the geographical coordinates of the latitudes and longitudes of places on the globe’ (Smyth
Sailor's Word-bk. 1867).
maritime state, that department of the state which consists of the officers and mariners of the navy.
| α c 1615 God & the King (1663) 25 In this maritane passage he submitteth himself unto the conduct and direction of the pilot. 1632 Lithgow Trav. viii. 362 Two thousand and three hundred Maritine miles. 1675 Ogilby Brit. Ded., You have laid open to us all those Maritin Itineraries. 1686 J. S[ergeant] Hist. Monast. Convent. 150 The Chamberlain..exerciseth his Jurisdiction amongst Marriners; and what relates to Maritine affairs. |
| β 1591 Horsey Trav. (Hakl. Soc.) 159 Novogorode and Plœsco, two greatest mart maritime or traide towns..of all the easteren parts. 1601 R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 24 The English people are maruellous expert in maritime actions. 1654 Earl of Monmouth tr. Bentivoglio's Warrs Flanders 113 His want of skill in maritime affairs. 1765 Blackstone Comm. I. Introd. §1. 14 The spiritual and maritime courts of this kingdom. Ibid. xiii. 405 The maritime state is nearly related to the former [viz. the military]: though much more agreeable to the principles of our free constitution. Ibid., In the maritime reign of queen Elizabeth. 1774 M. Mackenzie Maritime Surv. ii. i. 69. 1776 Gibbon Decl. & F. xiii. I. 364 Britain,..already assumed its natural and respectable station of a maritime power. 1813 Wellington in Gurw. Desp. (1838) X. 361 To prevent the enemy's maritime communication between Bayonne and Santoña. 1841 Penny Cycl. XXI. 406/2 A maritime insurance is a contract [etc.]. 1846 Young Naut. Dict. 43 A high rate of interest, termed Maritime Interest, or Bottomry Premium, being charged. 1861 Bright Sp., America 4 Dec. (1876) 96 Maritime law..consists of opinions and precedents for the most part. |
3. Of a fighting force: Intended for service at sea.
† maritime regiment: earlier name of the marines.
| α 1550 J. Coke Eng. & Fr. Heralds §105 (1877) 90 Th' erle of Arundell..with a puissaunt army myrytayne dystroyed..all the navy of Flanders. 1653 Nissena 49 Without much weakening the Maritin forces. 1707 Freind Peterborow's Cond. Sp. 180 We hope for a Maritine Force betimes in these seas. |
| β 1668 in L. Edye Hist. Marines (1893) I. 102, 2 Maritim Regim{supt}{sups} consisting of 26 Companyes. 1684 List Military 15 His Royal Highness the Duke of York and Albany's Marittime Regiment of Foot. 1839 Penny Cycl. XIV. 419/2 In the beginning of Queen Anne's reign (1702), six regiments of maritime soldiers were raised. |
4. Of, pertaining to, arising from, or existing in, the sea. Now
rare or
Obs.| 1624 B. Jonson Neptune's Triumph Stage Direct., A maritime Palace, or the house of Oceanus. 1663 Boyle Usef. Exp. Nat. Philos. ii. xiv. 252 The Maritime Air and steames. 1784 Cowper Task ii. 258 That no rude savour maritime invade The nose of nice nobility! 1796 H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) II. 139 The maritime winds unite their efforts toward the autumnal equinox. 1835 Sir J. Ross Narr. 2nd Voy. v. 67 An interesting maritime landscape. |
5. Characteristic of a seaman; nautical.
| 1743 Bulkeley & Cummins Voy. S. Seas Ded. 5 The following Pages..are written in a plain maritime Stile. 1848 Dickens Dombey iv, He was far from having a maritime appearance. 1889 D. Hannay Capt. Marryat viii. 122 This sailor had an altogether maritime ignorance of women. |
6. maritime pine, the cluster pine,
Pinus pinaster, a southern European tree distinguished by cones in clusters, often planted in coastal areas to bind sandy soil.
| 1894 H. M. Ward Laslett's Timber & Timber Trees (ed. 2) xxxi. 349 The Cluster Pine..much used in the south and west of France, where it is known as the Maritime Pine from the extensive planting on the coasts, yields a highly resinous reddish wood. 1914 W. J. Bean Trees & Shrubs Hardy in Brit. Is. II. 187 Cluster Pine, Maritime Pine..is, as its common name implies, admirably adapted for maritime localities. 1969 T. H. Everett Living Trees of World 54/1 Of all two-needled pines, the species with the longest leaves,..is the cluster pine or maritime pine..a southern European tree that thrives in coastal areas. |
B. n. 1. † a. The sea-coast; a country or region adjoining the sea.
Obs.| 1591 Decl. Gt. Troubles 5 Certayne skroles or beadrolles of names of men dwelling in sundry partes of our Countries,..but specially in the maritimes. 1598 Barret Theor. Warres Gloss. 251 Maritime is sea coast countrie, or countries adioyning vnto the sea. 1635 E. Pagitt Christianogr. i. ii. (1636) 83 In the south Maritime and in Ethiopia. 1657 Thornley tr. Longus' Daphnis & Chloe 75 The General..comes up to the maritims of Mitylene, and hostilely invades them. |
b. In
pl., with capital initial. The eastern provinces of Canada adjoining the Atlantic Ocean (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island).
| 1926 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 24 July 1/2 Continuing his Maritime tour, Premier Meighan in an address here tonight again stressed his policy for the Maritimes. 1934 W. M. Whitelaw (title) The Maritimes and Canada before Confederation. 1938 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Ingleside viii. 58 The July night was unreasonably cold as even a summer night in the Maritimes sometimes is. 1947 G. Taylor Canada xvi. 385 The three small provinces linked as the Maritimes..together only amount to 1.5 per cent of the area of the Dominion. 1956 C. R. Fay Life & Labour in Newfoundland viii. 134 Schooners come from the Maritimes with much needed provisions and lumber. 1960 Times 21 Nov. (Canada Suppl.) p. v/6 The salty Maritimes or the wide-open Prairies. 1970 M. M. Orkin Speaking Canad. Eng. vii. 186 Nova Scotia is The Mayflower Province, and New Brunswick The Loyalist Province. Together with Prince Edward Island, they are collectively known as the Maritime Provinces or, more familiarly, the Maritimes. |
† 2. A person living near the sea.
Obs. rare—1.
| 1655 Stanley Hist. Philos. i. (1687) 27/1 Lycurgus was head of the Country-men, Megacles of the Maritimes. |