Ocean
/ˈoʊʃən/noun
The vast body of salt water covering much of Earth, or one of its major divisions.
Did you know?The word comes from Greek Okeanos, the world-encircling river of myth, so the ocean began as a divine boundary between the known world and the beyond.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*h₂ekʷ-
“A root meaning "water" or related to water”
Ancient Greek
Greek
Ōkeanós (Ὠκεανός)
“The great world-encircling river and a primordial god”
Latin
Latin
oceanus
“The great sea surrounding the earth”
Old French
Old French
ocean
“The ocean; the sea”
Middle English
English
occean / ocean
“The vast sea”