sea

A1 Topic:Maritime & Sailing

US /siː/ UK /siː/ See IPA manual

Homophones

see /ˈsi/

Freq #890

Meanings

1

noun
The large area of salt water that covers much of the earth, or a particular part of it.

We swam in the sea every day on holiday.
2

noun
A large area of salt water that is partly surrounded by land.

The ship sailed across the Mediterranean Sea.
3

noun
A very large amount of something.

It will take months to go through this sea of possibilities.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

3 noun · a very large amount of... ocean

Word family

Forms seas

Derived forms allhallows-on-seaaseanbexhill-on-seabirchington-on-seaburnham-on-seacaister-on-seacardiff-by-the-seacarmel-by-the-seachelsea-on-seaclacton-on-seafrinton-on-seagoring-by-sea

Related forms oceansea-tac

Appears in

Phrases (15)

See all

calm sea
the sea in a flat, untroubled state with little wave action

Adjective + noun
rough sea
the sea in a turbulent, stormy state with large waves

Adjective + noun
deep sea
the part of the ocean at very great depth

Adjective + noun
open sea
the part of the sea well away from land, without sheltering coastlines

Adjective + noun
sea anemone
a soft-bodied marine animal with tentacles arranged around its mouth like flower petals

Noun + noun
sea bream
a marine bream commonly eaten as fish

Noun + noun

Proverbs (2)

See all

Simplified etymology

Sea is an Old English word with Germanic relatives including Dutch zee and German See. The expression at sea came to describe confusion by likening a person to a ship out of sight of land and without its bearings. Sea change, meaning a profound transformation, comes from Shakespeare's The Tempest.

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”),…

see Middle English sǣ Old English *saiwi Proto-West Germanic *saiwiz Proto-Germanic *sh₂ey- Proto-Indo-European *sīhwaną Proto-Germanic *seykʷ- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Maritime & Sailing Nature & Landscape

External links

# sea

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /siː/
**IPA (UK):** /siː/
**Frequency rank:** 890

## Meanings
1. The large area of salt water that covers much of the earth, or a particular part of it.
2. A large area of salt water that is partly surrounded by land.
3. A very large amount of something.

## Examples
- We swam in the sea every day on holiday.
- The ship sailed across the Mediterranean Sea.
- It will take months to go through this sea of possibilities.

## Derived Forms
- allhallows-on-sea
- asean
- 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
- frinton-on-sea
- goring-by-sea

## Related Forms
- ocean
- sea-tac

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: see
- Root: sǣ
- Root: *saiwi
- Root: *saiwiz
- Root: *sh₂ey-
- Root: *sīhwaną
- Root: *seykʷ-

## 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”),…

## AI Etymology
Sea is 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-. Important forms in the word's history include Middle English see, Old English sǣ, Proto-West Germanic *saiwi, Proto-Germanic *saiwiz, Proto-Indo-European *sh₂ey-, Proto-Germanic *sīhwaną, Proto-Indo-European *seykʷ-. In current use it includes senses such as The large area of salt water that covers much of the earth, or a particular part of it and A large area of salt water that is partly surrounded by land.

## Topics
- Maritime & Sailing
- Nature & Landscape

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