ocean

English

Etymology

From Middle English *ocean, occean, occian, occyan, from Old French occean (later reborrowed or reinforced by Middle French ocean), from Latin Ōceanus, originally from Ancient Greek Ὠκεανός (Ōkeanós, “Oceanus”, a water deity). Displaced native Old English gārseċġ.

Also commonly referred to as the ocean sea, the sea of ocean (compare Latin mare ōceanum; Old French mer oceane, occeanne mer). Compare Saterland Frisian Oceoan (“ocean”), West Frisian oseaan (“ocean”), Dutch oceaan (“ocean”), German Low German Ozeaan (“ocean”), German Ozean (“ocean”), Danish ocean (“ocean”), Swedish ocean (“ocean”), French océan (“ocean”), Italian oceano (“ocean”). Doublet of Oceanus/Okeanos.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈəʊ.ʃən/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈoʊ.ʃən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊʃən
• Hyphenation: o‧cean

Noun

ocean (countable and uncountable, plural oceans)

1. (countable) One of the large bodies of water separating the continents.
2. (uncountable) Water belonging to an ocean.

   The island is surrounded by ocean

3. (figuratively) An immense expanse; any vast space or quantity without apparent limits.

   the boundless ocean of eternity

   an ocean of difference

   • 1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, , published 1850, →OCLC:

     On the present occasion, Traddles was so hemmed in by the pagoda and the guitar-case, and Dora’s flower-painting, and my writing-table, that I had serious doubts of the possibility of his using his knife and fork; but he protested, with his own good-humour, ‘Oceans of room, Copperfield! I assure you, Oceans!’

   • 1959, “Poison Ivy”, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller (lyrics), performed by The Coasters:

     Poison Ivy, Lord,'ll make you itch
     You're gonna need an ocean
     Of calamine lotion
     You'll be scratchin' like a hound
     The minute you start to mess around

4. A blue colour, like that of the ocean (also called ocean blue).

   ocean:  

Synonyms

• (large body of water): the ogin (UK, nautical and navy)

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• lake
• sea

References

• Ocean on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• acone, canoe

Occitan

Etymology

From Latin ōceanus.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

ocean m (plural oceans)

1. ocean

Related terms

• oceanic
• oceanografia

Further reading

• Joan de Cantalausa (2006) Diccionari general occitan a partir dels parlars lengadocians‎, 2 edition, →ISBN, page 686.

Polish

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:

ocean

Wikipedia ^pl

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin Ōceanus, from Ancient Greek Ὠκεᾰνός (Ōkeanós).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔˈt͡sɛ.an/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛan
• Syllabification: o‧ce‧an

Noun

ocean m inan

1. ocean

Declension

Derived terms

Further reading

• ocean in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• ocean in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French océan.

Noun

ocean n (plural oceane)

1. ocean

Declension

Serbo-Croatian

Alternative forms

• okèān (Serbia, Bosnia)

Etymology

From Latin Ōceanus, from Ancient Greek Ὠκεανός (Ōkeanós, “Oceanus”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ot͡sěaːn/
• Hyphenation: o‧ce‧an

Noun

ocèān m (Cyrillic spelling оцѐа̄н)

1. (Croatia) ocean

Declension

Related terms

• prekoocenaski

Slovene

Etymology

From Latin Ōceanus, from Ancient Greek Ὠκεανός (Ōkeanós, “Oceanus”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔt͡sɛàːn/

Noun

oceán m inan

1. (geography) ocean

Inflection

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Further reading

• “ocean”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran