sea
noun/siː/ · /seɪ/
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English see, from Old English sǣ, from Proto-West Germanic *saiwi (“body of water”), from Proto-Germanic *saiwiz, itself either: * Derived from Proto-Indo-European *sh₂ey-wo- (“to be fierce, afflict”). Related to Latin saevus (“wild, fierce”), Tocharian B saiwe (“itch”), and Latvian sievs, sīvs (“sharp, biting”). More at sore. * Derived from Proto-Germanic *sīhwaną (“to percolate, filter”), from Proto-Indo-European *seykʷ-. Cognates Cognate with Yola zea, zee (“sea”), North Frisian See, sia, siie (“sea; lake”), Saterland Frisian See, Säi (“sea”), West Frisian see (“sea”), Cimbrian and Mòcheno sea (“lake”), Dutch zee (“sea”), German and German Low German See (“sea”), Limburgish Sië, zieë (“sea, ocean; lake”), Luxembourgish Séi (“lake”), West Flemish zji (“sea; seaside”), Danish sø (“sea; lake”), Faroese sjógvur (“sea; big wave”), Icelandic sjár, sjór, sær (“sea”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk sjø (“sea, ocean; lake”), Swedish sjö (“sea; lake; big wave”), Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌹𐍅𐍃 (saiws, “lake, sea; marshland”).
11 senses
- 1A large body of salt water.
- 2The ocean; the continuous body of salt water covering a…
- 3A body of salt water smaller than an ocean, generally…
- 4A lake, especially if large or if salty or brackish.
- 5A single wave; billow.
- 6The swell of the sea, especially when high or rough.
- 7Living or used in or on the sea; of, near, or like the sea.
- 8Anything resembling the vastness or turbulence of the…
- 9A constant flux of gluons splitting into quarks, which…
- 10A large, dark plain of rock; a mare.
- 11A very large lake of liquid hydrocarbon.
1
A large body of salt water.
- God moves in a myſterious way, / His wonders to perform; / He plants his footſteps in the ſea, / And rides upon the ſtorm.1780, William Cowper, “Light Shining out of Darkneſs”, in Twenty-ſix Letters on Religious Subjects […] To which are added Hymns […] , 4th edition, page 252:
2
The ocean; the continuous body of salt water covering a majority of the Earth's surface.
- These ſhal ye eat, of all that are in the waters: whatſoeuer hath finnes and ſcales in the waters, in the ſeas, and in the riuers, them ſhall ye eate.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Leviticus 11:9, signature [K5], recto, column 2:
- At length the universal Wreck appear'd,/ To Cæsar's self, ev'n worthy to be fear'd./ Why all these Pains, this Toil of Fate (he cries)/ This Labour of the Seas, and Earth, and Skies?/ All Nature, and the Gods at once alarm'd,/ Against my little Boat and me are arm'd.1719, Nicholas Rowe, “Book V”, in Lucan's Pharsalia: Translated into English Verse, Dublin: James Carson, page 183:
2 more examples
- There is something in being near the sea, like the confines of eternity. It is a new element, a pure abstraction. The mind loves to hover on that which is endless, and forever the same. People wonder at a steam-boat, the invention of man, managed by man, that makes its liquid path like an iron railway through the sea—I wonder at the sea itself, that vast Leviathan, rolled round the earth, smiling in its sleep, waked into fury, fathomless, boundless, a huge world of water-drops.—Whence is it, whither goes it, is it of eternity, or of nothing?1833, William Hazlitt, “Notes of a Journey Through France and Italy”, in Greenbank's Periodical Library, volume I, chapter 1, page 173:
- As we stood there watching, the long yellow light on the eastern horizon suddenly changed in color—first to a roseate flush, then to a warm crimson; the scenes round us, sky, sea, and land, brightened as if by magic.1922 March, J. S. Fletcher, “The Mystery of Ravensdene Court”, in Everybody's Magazine, volume XLVI, number 3, page 162:
3
A body of salt water smaller than an ocean, generally forming part of, or connecting with, an ocean or a larger sea.
- The Mediterranean Sea, the Caribbean Sea, the Sea of Crete, etc.
4
A lake, especially if large or if salty or brackish.
- The Caspian Sea, the Sea of Galilee, the Salton Sea, etc.
5
A single wave; billow.
- One ſea broke away the ſpare yards and ſpars out of the ſtarboard main chains. Another heavy ſea broke into the ſhip and ſtove all the boats. Several caſks of beer, that had been laſhed upon deck, were broke looſe and waſhed overboard, and it was not without great difficulty and riſk that we were able to ſecure the boats from being waſhed away entirely.1792, William Bligh, chapter II, in A Voyage to the South Sea, […] in His Majesty’s Ship The Bounty, […], London: […] George Nicol, […], →OCLC, page 14:
- 'If they buy three cords of birch logs,' said the witch, 'but they must be exact measure—and no bargaining about the price, and if they throw overboard the one cord of logs, piece by piece, when the first sea comes, and the other cord, piece by piece, when the second sea comes, and the third cord, piece by piece, when the third sea comes, then it's all over with us.'1881, P. Chr. Asbjörnsen [i.e., Peter Christen Asbjørnsen], “Mackerel Trolling”, in H. L. Brækstad, transl., Round the Yule Log. Norwegian Folk and Fairy Tales, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, →OCLC, page 187:
6
The swell of the sea, especially when high or rough.
- “Where can they be?” he cried. “They cannot have gone down, for there has been no sea, and they were afloat after the yacht sank—I saw them all.”1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 150:
- There was a small sea rising with the wind coming up from the east and at noon the old man's left hand was uncramped.1952, Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea:
1 more example
- 2020 June 8, National Weather Service Boston, 2:38 PM EDT marine forecast High pressure will maintain light winds and flat seas through Tue night. ... Potential for briefly choppy 3 ft seas near South Coast...
7
In compounds Living or used in or on the sea; of, near, or like the sea.
- Seaman, sea gauge, sea monster, sea horse, sea level, seaworthy, seaport, seaboard, etc.
8
Figuratively Anything resembling the vastness or turbulence of the sea in mass, size or quantity.
- To be, or not to be, that is the queſtion, / Whether tis nobler in the minde to ſuffer / The ſlings and arrowes of outragious fortune, / Or to take Armes againſt a ſea of troubles, / And by oppoſing, end them, to die to ſleepe / No more, and by a ſleepe, to ſay we end / The hart-ake, and the thouſand naturall ſhocks / That fleſh is heire to; […]c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (Second Quarto), London: […] I[ames] R[oberts] for N[icholas] L[ing] […], published 1604, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], signature G2, recto:
- Secondly, in terms of geopolitics Central Asia was a huge sea of barbarians set in the midst of interlocking continents. Thanks to its border on the Siberian forest in the north, it was open to barbarian incomers who would upset existing polities and set migrations going.1980, Patria Crone, Slaves on Horseback: The Evolution of the Islamic Polity, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN:
3 more examples
- The beck is crossed by a pretty ford and a number of bridges, and in spring the cottages look out over a dancing sea of daffodils.1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 102:
- In the last two decades, North Korea has on various occasions conducted highly provocative missile and nuclear tests and promised to turn Seoul into a sea of fire.2013 April 9, Andrei Lankov, “Stay Cool. Call North Korea’s Bluff.”, in New York Times:
- When the newbie is struggling to find the femoral in a sea of fat tissue so you teach them the power of perseverance2026 May 11, @thefunerallife, Instagram:
9
Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Physics A constant flux of gluons splitting into quarks, which annihilate to produce further gluons.
10
Astronomy, Natural sciences, Planetology A large, dark plain of rock; a mare.
- The Apollo 11 mission landed in the Sea of Tranquility.
11
Astronomy, Natural sciences, Planetology A very large lake of liquid hydrocarbon.
- Derived terms
103 terms
Adriatic Sea, Aegean Sea, Argentine Sea, Baltic Sea, Banda Sea, Barents Sea, Beaufort Sea, Bering Sea, Black Sea, Camotes Sea, Caribbean Sea, Caspian Sea, Celtic Sea, Coral Sea, Dead Sea, East Sea, German Sea, Greenland Sea, Hinder Sea, Imarpik Sea, Inland Sea, Ionian Sea, Irish Sea, Java Sea, Kara Sea, Labrador Sea, Ligurian Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Myrtoan Sea, North Sea, Norwegian Sea, Philippine Sea, Red Sea, Ross Sea, Salt Sea, Scotia Sea, Sea Lake, Sea of Azov, Sea of Galilee, Sea of Japan, Sea of Marmara, Sea of Okhotsk, Sea of Sodom, Sea of the Hebrides, Sea of the Philistines, Seto Inland Sea, Solomon Sea, South China Sea, Sulu Sea, Tappan Sea, Tasman Sea, The Sea, Timor Sea, Tyrrhenian Sea, Wadden Sea, Weddell Sea, Allhallows-on-Sea, Bexhill-on-Sea, Birchington-on-Sea, Burnham-on-Sea, Caister-on-Sea, Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Carmel-by-the-Sea, Chelsea-on-Sea, Clacton-on-Sea, Cley next the Sea, Frinton-on-Sea, Goring-by-Sea, Gorleston-on-Sea, Greatstone-on-Sea, Holland-on-Sea, Hopton-on-Sea, Kingston by Sea, Knott End-on-Sea, Leigh-on-Sea, Leysdown-on-Sea, Littlestone-on-Sea, Lydd-on-Sea, Marske-by-the-Sea, Middleton-on-Sea, Milford-on-Sea, Minster-on-Sea, Mundesley-on-Sea, Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Newton-by-the-Sea, Red Sea Hills, Rhos-on-Sea, Saltburn-by-the-Sea, Seabreeze, Seaford, Sealand, Sea Mills, Sea Point, Seatown, Seaview, Shoreham-by-Sea, Southend-on-Sea, St Anne's on the Sea, St Leonards-on-Sea, Sutton on Sea, Wells-next-the-Sea, Westcliff-on-Sea, Westgate-on-Sea- Related terms
- ocean, Sea-Tac