sea adj : relating to or characteristic of or occurring on the sea or ships; "sea stories"; "sea smells"; "sea traffic" [syn: sea(a)] [ant: air(a), land(a)]

1 a division of an ocean or a large body of salt water partially enclosed by land

2 anything apparently limitless in quantity or volume [syn: ocean]

3 turbulent water with swells of considerable size; "heavy seas"

see SEA

English

Etymology

From etyl enm see < etyl ang sæ < , of unknown origin.

Pronunciation

• , /siː/, /si:/

• Rhymes: -iː

Homophones

• cee
• see

Noun

1. A large body of salty water. (Major seas are known as oceans.)

Derived terms

• deep sea
• high seas
• open sea
• sea breeze
• seachange, sea change
• sea cow
• sea dragon
• seafood
• seagull
• seahorse
• sea cucumber
• sea grape
• sea level
• sea monster
• seaplane
• sea sawdust
• seaside
• sea squirt
• seastar
• sea urchin
• sea wolf

Translations

See also

• ocean
• The Seven Seas

Spanish

Verb

es-verb-form ser

See also

• maldita sea

This article is about the body of water. For other uses, see SEA and seas. For the ancient Jewish unit of volume, see Seah (unit). For the Smirnoff advertising campaign, see Sea (Smirnoff advert)

A sea is either a large expanse of saline water connected with an ocean, or a large, usually saline, lake that lacks a natural outlet such as the Caspian Sea and the Dead Sea. Colloquially, the term is used synonymous with ocean. Large lakes, such as the Great Lakes, are sometimes referred to as inland seas. Marginal seas are those that have currents caused by ocean winds, and mediterranean seas are those in which currents are caused by differentials in salinity and temperature.

International Hydrographic Organization

The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) is the international authority that sets forth nomenclature and definition of bodies of water. The IHO's Limits of Oceans and Seas was first published in 1928, with its current working document the third edition published in 1953. A fourth draft edition was proposed in 1986 but has yet to ratified due to outstanding issues such as the Sea of Japan naming dispute.

List of seas

† Not listed in IHO S-23 4th ed. (There are 113 Seas on Earth.)

Nomenclature

Some bodies of water that are called "seas" are not actually seas; there are also some seas that are not called "seas". The following is an incomplete list of such potentially confusing names.

• The Sea of Galilee is a small freshwater lake with a natural outlet, which is properly called Lake Tiberias or Lake Kinneret on modern Israeli maps, but its original name remains in use.
• The Sea of Cortés is more commonly known as the Gulf of California.
• The Persian Gulf is a sea.
• The Dead Sea is actually a lake, as is the Caspian Sea.

Extraterrestrial seas

See also Extraterrestrial liquid water

Lunar maria are vast basaltic plains on the Moon that were thought to be bodies of water by early astronomers, who referred to them as "seas".

Liquid water may have existed on the surface of Mars in the distant past, and several basins on Mars have been proposed as dry sea beds. The largest is Vastitas Borealis; others include Hellas Planitia and Argyre Planitia.

Liquid water is thought to be present under the surface of several moons, most notably Europa.

Liquid hydrocarbons are thought to be present on the surface of Titan, though it may be more accurate to describe them as "lakes" rather than "seas".

Science

The term "sea" has also been used in quantum physics. Dirac sea is an interpretation of the negative energy states that comprises the vacuum.

See also

• Oceanography
• Inlet
• International Maritime Organization
• List of places on land with elevations below sea level
• Pole of inaccessibility: the locations farthest from any coastline
• Marine debris
• Sea level
• Sea level rise
• Sea salt
• Seven Seas

References

abundance, acres, bags, barrels, big drink, billow, blue, blue water, bore, breakers, brine, briny, bushel, chop, choppiness, chopping sea, comb, comber, copiousness, countlessness, deep, dirty water, drink, eagre, flood, gravity wave, ground swell, heave, heavy sea, heavy swell, high sea, high seas, hydrosphere, lift, load, lop, main, main sea, mass, mountain, much, multitude, numerousness, ocean, ocean depths, ocean main, ocean sea, oceans, peak, peck, plenitude, plenty, popple, profusion, quantities, quantity, riffle, ripple, rise, roll, roller, rough water, salt sea, salt water, scend, send, spate, superabundance, superfluity, surf, surge, swell, thalassa, the bounding main, the brine, the briny, the briny deep, the deep, the deep sea, the seven seas, the vasty deep, tidal bore, tidal wave, tide, tide wave, tons, trough, tsunami, undulation, volume, water wave, wave, wavelet, white horses, whitecaps, world, worlds