sea English · revision 3348

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725 (Beowulf)|origins=gem-pro *saiwiz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /siː/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|see]], [[inh|ang|sǣ|t=sea, lake, pool]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000) from [[gem-pro|*saiwiz]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) the source also of Old Saxon sēo, Dutch [[m|nl|zee]], German [[m|de|See|t=lake; sea]], Old Norse [[m|non|sær]] and Gothic saiws “sea, marsh”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) It is of unknown origin:^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) no cognates are found outside Germanic,^(Barnhart 1988) and Buck calls outside connections “wholly doubtful”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old English sǣ, “sea, lake”: about 725, in ''Beowulf''.^(Barnhart 1988) The different tracts of the ocean, in the plural, are from about 825,^(OED 1989) and the continuous body of salt water covering most of the earth from about 1205.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Etymonline notes that the Germanic languages also have the Indo-European word represented by English [[mere]], and that they draw no firm line between “sea” and “lake”: Gothic saiws means “lake, marsh” and marei “sea”, but Dutch zee is “sea” and meer “lake”.^(Etymonline) The figurative “a great mass or quantity”, as in ''a sea of troubles'', is from about 1200^(Etymonline) or probably before 1200.^(Barnhart 1988) ''At sea'', or ''all at sea'', “in a state of perplexity”, is found in Blackstone (1766),^(Barnhart 1988) likening a confused person to a ship that has lost sight of land.^(Cresswell 2021) ''Seaboard'' is from 1788.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – ''sǣ'', sea or lake.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 825 – the seas, tracts of ocean.^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1200 – a great mass of something.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1205 – the ocean.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1766 – ''at sea'', perplexed.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1788 – ''seaboard''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The continuous body of salt water covering most of the earth's surface; the [[ocean]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A particular part of the ocean, or a large body of salt water partly or wholly enclosed by land: ''the Mediterranean Sea''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # The state of the ocean's surface: ''a rough sea''.^(AHD)

+ # A great mass or quantity: ''a sea of faces''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mere]]

+ * [[seaboard]]

+ * [[seaside]]

+ * [[seaman]]

+ * [[seashore]]

+ * [[seaweed]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Hoad notes that ''sea-coal'', from the 13th century, was originally coal that came from the sea.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}