A Ship's Kitchen Is Named After an Ancient Warship
A galley is a rowed ship, a ship's kitchen and a printing proof. The three senses have travelled a long way apart.
A galley is a ship propelled by oars, and also the kitchen of a ship or aircraft. Printing added a third sense: a *galley* was the tray holding set type, and a *galley proof* was printed from it before the text was divided into pages. Publishers still call an early proof a galley, centuries after the tray disappeared.
- A rowed ship. *A Roman galley.*
- A ship's kitchen. *Working in the galley.*
- A printing tray or proof. *Galley proofs.*
- Galley slave — one forced to row. *Condemned as a galley slave.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | galley | A crowded galley. |
| Plural | galleys | Two galleys. |
| Compound | galley proof | Corrected galley proofs. |
| Related | trireme | A Greek trireme. |
| Related | oar | A long oar. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The cook worked in the galley.Ship's kitchen.
- Galley proofs came back marked up.Publishing.
- A trireme had three banks of oars.Ancient warship.
Galley kitchen layouts
- Galley kitchen — two parallel runs with a corridor between
- Named for ships — the layout matches a narrow vessel
- Efficient — everything within reach
- Common in flats — where space is limited
- Aircraft galley — the same principle at altitude
From Old French *galie*, from Medieval Latin *galea*, from Byzantine Greek *galea*. The printing sense comes from the shape of the type tray.
Why is a ship's kitchen called a galley?
The word transferred from the vessel to the cooking area within it, and then to narrow kitchens on land.
What is a galley proof?
An early printed proof made before text is divided into pages, named after the tray that held the type.