ocean

Forms

ocean n (plural oceane)^[1] Old texts write ochean or ochian: Miron Costin writes that their border on all sides was „Marea Ochianul” “the Ocean Sea”.^[2][3]

Etymology

The dictionaries give several sources, what Romanian lexicography calls multiple etymology.^[4][3] In DEX it is borrowed from Latin ōceanus, German Ozean and French océan.^[4][1] MDA2 and the DLR add Modern Greek ωκεανός (okeanós) and Russian океан (okean).^[3][5] Ciorănescu gives the French word for the modern form and Greek for the older one of the 17th century, and Scriban derives the old form ⟨ochean⟩ from Greek.^[6][7] Tiktin gives Greek or Latin, partly through other languages.^[2]

The Latin word is borrowed from Ancient Greek ὠκεανός (ōkeanós), first the name of the river believed to flow around the earth.^[8][1][9] Babiniotis calls the Greek word of unknown origin, perhaps a loan.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to about 1635, in a text by Eftimie.^[2] The 17th-century records have the Greek-based form: ochianul in Miron Costin and ochiian “the great sea in the east” in a text of 1680.^[5][3]

Semantic evolution

In the old texts the word is “the great sea that surrounds the earth”, as Nicolae Costin and Cantemir use it;^[5][11] Negulici's dictionary of 1848 still defines it so.^[5][11] The modern sense is any of the great salt waters between the continents, and oceanul planetar is the whole of the world's connected oceans and seas.^[4][3] The figurative sense “vast expanse, multitude” is in Cantemir's Hronic, „ocheianul a toată știința” “the ocean of all knowledge”.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1635 – first record, in a text by Eftimie.^[2]
• 1680 – ochiian “the great sea”.^[5]
• 1848 – ocean in Negulici's dictionary.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. An ocean: a vast expanse of salt water between the continents;^[4][1] Oceanul Atlantic.^[4][1]
2. oceanul planetar (mondial) “the world ocean”: all the oceans and seas together.^[4]
3. (figurative) A boundless expanse or multitude: un ocean de lumină.^[4][12]

Word family

• oceanic

Related words

• Latin ōceanus

Usage notes

The plural is oceane;^[3] MDA2 also records a rare oceanuri.^[3] A different, obsolete ocean meant “heir”;^[2][5][3] Tiktin records it from 1581 and connects it, like the DLR, with ocină “inherited land”.^[2][5][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. ocean
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 190
4. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 732
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. ocean
6. ^ Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. ocean
7. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 889
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 676
10. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας, p. 1697
11. ^ a b c Negulici, I. D. (1848), Vocabular romînesc de toate vorbele streine întroduse pînă acum în limba romînească și de toate cuvintele ce s-ar mai putea introduce încă, București, p. s.v. ocean
12. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. ocean