sea
/siː/ noun, proper noun
Forms seas the Sea
- noun A large body of salt water.
- noun The ocean; the continuous body of salt water covering a majority of the Earth's surface.
- noun 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.”
- noun A lake, especially if large or if salty or brackish. “The Caspian Sea, the Sea of Galilee, the Salton Sea, etc.”
- noun A single wave; billow.
- noun The swell of the sea, especially when high or rough.
- noun (attributive, in combination) 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.”
- noun (figurative) Anything resembling the vastness or turbulence of the sea in mass, size or quantity.
- proper noun A surname.
- proper noun A hamlet in Ilminster parish, South Somerset district, Somerset, England (OS grid ref ST3413).
- proper noun Synonym of Mediterranean Sea.
Synonyms
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-.
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”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun One of the larger bodies of salt water, less than an ocean, found on the earth's surface; a body of salt water of second rank, generally forming part of, or connecting with, an ocean or a larger sea; as, the Mediterranean Sea; the Sea of Marmora; the North Sea; the Carribean Sea.
- noun An inland body of water, esp. if large or if salt or brackish; as, the Caspian Sea; the Sea of Aral; sometimes, a small fresh-water lake; as, the Sea of Galilee.
Etymology [OE. see, AS. sæ; akin to D. zee, OS. & OHG. seo, G. see, OFries. se, Dan. sö, Sw. sjö, Icel. sær, Goth. saiws, and perhaps to L. saevus firce, savage. sq. root 151 a.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “sea”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details