sea
Pluralseas (some meanings)
- 1The great interconnected expanse of salt water that covers most of the planet; the ocean as a whole.
Early explorers crossed the open sea with little more than the stars to guide them.
More than two-thirds of the planet's surface lies beneath the sea.
UsageUsually the sea: swim in the sea. No article in at sea, by sea and out to sea.
Similarocean
Oppositeland
Note
With the definite article, the word stops counting and names the whole: the sea, as in Hazlitt's "being near the sea." Older English often used the plural for the same whole. The King James Bible of 1611 has "in the seas, and in the rivers," and Nicholas Rowe's Lucan (dated 1718, issued 1719) sets "the Seas, and Earth, and Skies" side by side. Paired with land and sky, it stands for one of the world's great elements.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 6 facts
- William Hazlitt wrote the words “being near the sea.” gutenberg.org
- Older English used the plural “seas” for the ocean collectively. en.wiktionary.org
- The King James Bible was first published in 1611. wwwe.lib.cam.ac.uk
- The King James Bible contains “in the seas, and in the rivers,” in Leviticus 11:9. en.wikisource.org
- Nicholas Rowe's translation of Lucan was dated 1718 but first issued in 1719. en.wikisource.org
- Rowe's translation places the exact words “the Seas, and Earth, and Skies” together. en.wiktionary.org
- 2A large body of salt water, usually smaller than an ocean and partly enclosed by land or connected to an ocean, such as the Mediterranean Sea.
The warm sea between the two peninsulas connects to the ocean through a narrow strait.
The Caribbean is a warm sea dotted with hundreds of islands.
UsageCapitalized in names, before or after: the Red Sea, the Sea of Japan.
Note
These named seas are pieces of the ocean, usually bordered by land but always open to the larger water. That openness is what separates them from the lakes that share the name. The Sargasso Sea, bounded only by ocean currents, has no coast at all.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- Seas in the specified sense are divisions of the interconnected ocean. en.wikipedia.org
- Such seas are usually partly bordered by land. oceanservice.noaa.gov
- Ocean-connected seas differ from the enclosed saline lakes also called seas. science.nasa.gov
- The Sargasso Sea has boundaries defined by ocean currents rather than coastlines. oceanservice.noaa.gov
- 3Used before another noun or in compounds for things living, used, or found in or on the sea, or near it.
Divers studied the strange sea creatures clustered around the reef.
A cold sea wind swept across the harbor at dawn.
UsageSome forms are one word (seashore, seaport), others two (sea level, sea lion).
Similarocean
Oppositeland
- 4A vast or overwhelming quantity of something, resembling the sea in its size or restlessness.
The reporter faced a sea of raised hands at the press conference.
A sea of paperwork buried the new clerk's desk within a week.
UsageUsually a sea of + plural or mass noun: a sea of faces, a sea of paperwork.
Similarmass, flood, ocean, mountain, forest
Note
A figure of speech with one steady frame: a sea of, followed by a crowd, mass or quantity. Shakespeare's Hamlet wonders whether to take arms "against a sea of troubles." Later writers have seen a sea of daffodils, a sea of barbarians and a sea of fire. The image can stress sheer extent, as with the flowers, or menace and turbulence, as with troubles and fire.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- Shakespeare wrote Hamlet. folger.edu
- Hamlet considers taking arms against a sea of troubles; the quoted wording is accurate. folger.edu
- Later writing uses the image of a sea of daffodils. en.wiktionary.org
- Later writing uses the image of a sea of barbarians. en.wiktionary.org
- Later writing uses the image of a sea of fire. en.wiktionary.org
- 5The waves or swell of the sea, especially when high or rough; also, a single large wave.
The crew battened down the hatches as a heavy sea rose around them.
A following sea pushed the small craft steadily toward the rocks.
UsageSailors speak of a heavy sea or a following sea; forecasts use the plural: choppy seas.
Note
Mariners and forecasters use the word to measure the water's mood. It can be absent: "there has been no sea," says a character in Edgar Rice Burroughs's The Return of Tarzan (1913). It can also build, as in Hemingway's "a small sea rising with the wind."
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote The Return of Tarzan. gutenberg.org
- A character says “there has been no sea.” gutenberg.org
- The first book edition appeared in 1915; 1913 is the serialization year. openlibrary.org
- Hemingway wrote “a small sea rising with the wind.” en.wiktionary.org
Less common meanings
- 6A lake, especially one that is large or salty or brackish.
The Caspian is the largest inland sea on Earth.
A brackish sea spread across the basin, fed by mountain rivers.
Similarlake
Note
Some lakes bear the name sea: the Caspian Sea, the Sea of Galilee, the Salton Sea. That wide use fits the word's history: its Proto-West Germanic ancestor *saiwi meant simply "body of water," and could name a lake as readily as a sea. In everyday use the word is applied this way mostly to the biggest or saltiest lakes, as in an inland sea.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- The Caspian Sea is a lake bearing the name sea. science.nasa.gov
- The Sea of Galilee is a lake bearing the name sea. en.wikipedia.org
- The Salton Sea is a lake bearing the name sea. en.wikipedia.org
- English sea descends from reconstructed Proto-West Germanic *saiwi, whose meaning included lakes, seas and oceans. en.wiktionary.org
- 7A large, dark plain of rock on the Moon or another body, known as a mare.
- 8A very large lake of liquid hydrocarbon, such as methane or ethane.
- 9The constantly fluctuating swarm of gluons and short-lived quark–antiquark pairs inside a proton or other hadron, as gluons split into pairs that annihilate back into gluons.
Practice
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Origin
Inherited from Middle English "see," from Old English "sǣ," from Proto-Germanic "*saiwiz" (body of water). Its ultimate root is uncertain: it may come from a Proto-Indo-European word meaning "to be fierce" (related to Latin "saevus," wild or fierce), or from one meaning "to percolate, filter." It is cognate with Dutch "zee" and German "See."
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 7 facts
- Sea is inherited through Middle English see and Old English sǣ from Proto-Germanic *saiwiz. en.wiktionary.org
- Proto-Germanic *saiwiz meant a body of water. en.wiktionary.org
- An uncertain proposed origin connects sea with a Proto-Indo-European root meaning to be fierce and with Latin saevus. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin saevus means wild or fierce. en.wiktionary.org
- An alternative proposed origin connects sea with a verb meaning to percolate or filter. en.wiktionary.org
- The filtering derivation ultimately connects with a Proto-Indo-European root. en.wiktionary.org
- Sea is cognate with Dutch zee and German See. en.wiktionary.org