Kuroshio
/kɯɾoɕioː/noun
A powerful warm ocean current flowing northward along the coast of Japan and into the North Pacific.
Did you know?The Kuroshio is Japan’s counterpart to the Gulf Stream, carrying warm tropical water—and enormous amounts of heat—northward into the Pacific.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Japonic
Japonic
*kuro
“Black or dark; the reconstructed ancestor of Japanese kuro.”
Proto-Japonic
Japonic
*sio
“Tide, current, or seawater; the reconstructed ancestor of Japanese shio.”
Old Japanese
Japanese
kuro
“Black or dark-colored.”
Old Japanese
Japanese
shio
“Tide, current, or seawater.”
19th Century
Japanese
黒潮 (Kuroshio)
“Black current; the name applied to the dark-looking warm current off Japan.”
Modern English
English
Kuroshio
“The Kuroshio Current, a major warm ocean current in the western North Pacific.”