Phrase guide

ocean current

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

Any more or less permanent or continuous, directed movement of water that flows in one of the Earth's oceans.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the steady flow of surface ocean water in a prevailing direction

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: current, stream

Narrower terms: El Nino, equatorial current, Gulf stream, Japan current, Kuroshio current, Kuroshio, Peruvian current, Humboldt current

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

17 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: океа́нско тече́ние (okeánsko tečénie) — movement of water
  • Chinese Mandarin: 海流 (hǎiliú) — movement of water
  • Finnish: merivirta — movement of water
  • French: courant marin — movement of water
  • Galician: corrente oceánica — movement of water
  • Georgian: ოკეანის დინება (oḳeanis dineba) — movement of water
  • German: Meeresströmung — movement of water
  • Irish: feacht — movement of water
  • Japanese: 海流 (kairyū) — movement of water
  • Marshallese: ae — movement of water
  • Norwegian Bokmål: havstrøm — movement of water
  • Norwegian Bokmål: havstrømning — movement of water
  • Romanian: curent oceanic — movement of water
  • Russian: морско́е тече́ние (morskóje tečénije) — movement of water
  • Swedish: havsström — movement of water
  • Vietnamese: hải lưu — movement of water
  • Vietnamese: dòng biển — movement of water