sea

The word “sea” means the continuous body of salt water covering most of the Earth's surface, or a named part of it. In plain terms, the salty ocean waters, or figuratively, a huge mass or spread of something.

“Sea” is pronounced see (/siː/ in IPA).

Here is “sea” used in a sentence: “They spent the afternoon swimming in the sea.”

“Sea” is a noun.

The word “sea” comes from Old English. From Old English sæ, from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "body of water.".

“Sea” is a very common word in modern English, usually learned at around the A1 level.

“Sea” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: the continuous body of salt water covering most of the Earth's surface, or a named part of it.

Oceans are the huge, deep bodies of salt water that divide the continents, like the Pacific or Atlantic. A sea is smaller and usually lies where land and ocean meet, often partly enclosed by land, such as the Mediterranean or North Sea. Seas are generally shallower, and most are actually parts of a larger ocean.

The sea is salty mainly because rain and rivers slowly wash minerals, including salt, from rocks and soil on land into it over millions of years. Underwater volcanic vents add more minerals. Water leaves the sea by evaporation but the salt stays behind, so it has gradually built up and become concentrated.

There is no single agreed number, because "sea" is defined loosely and boundaries overlap. Traditionally people spoke of the "seven seas," a poetic phrase for all the world's waters. Today geographers recognise dozens of named seas, such as the Caribbean, Red, and Baltic, most of them arms or divisions of the larger oceans.

By most measures the largest sea is the Philippine Sea, a vast stretch of the western Pacific Ocean. The Coral Sea and Arabian Sea are also among the biggest. Rankings vary because experts disagree on exactly where some seas end, but the Philippine Sea is usually placed at the top.