Phrase guide

open sea

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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

That part of the sea out of sight of land.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: open ocean

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A sea open to all nations, i.e. not a mare clausum.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle English open see, open se, equivalent to open + sea.

Across languages

Translations

41 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Southern Altai: ачык талай (ačïk talay) — part of the sea
  • Southern Altai: ачык теҥис (ačïk teŋis) — part of the sea
  • Catalan: alta mar — part of the sea
  • Chinese Mandarin: 外海 (wàihǎi) — part of the sea
  • Crimean Tatar: açıq deñiz — part of the sea
  • Dutch: open zee — part of the sea
  • Dutch: volle zee — part of the sea
  • Finnish: avomeri — part of the sea
  • Finnish: aava — part of the sea
  • Finnish: aava meri — part of the sea
  • Finnish: selkämeri — part of the sea
  • Finnish: ulappa — part of the sea
  • Finnish: ulkomeri — part of the sea
  • French: haute mer — part of the sea
  • French: large — part of the sea
  • Galician: altura — part of the sea
  • Hebrew: הַיָּם הַפָּתוּחַ (hayam hapatuakh) — part of the sea
  • Ingrian: avonain meri — part of the sea
  • Irish: mórmhuir — part of the sea
  • Italian: alto mare — part of the sea
  • Japanese: 外海 (gaikai) — part of the sea
  • Japanese: 沖 (oki) — part of the sea
  • Korean: 외해 (oehae) — part of the sea
  • Malayalam: നടുകടൽ (naṭukaṭal) — part of the sea
  • Māori: moana waiwai — part of the sea
  • Māori: tahora — part of the sea
  • Māori: moana tuauriuri — part of the sea
  • Norman: plieine mé — part of the sea
  • Norman: large — part of the sea
  • Norwegian Bokmål: åpent hav — part of the sea
  • Old English: ūtermere — part of the sea
  • Portuguese: alto mar — part of the sea
  • Portuguese: mar aberto — part of the sea
  • Russian: откры́тое мо́ре (otkrýtoje móre) — part of the sea
  • Serbo-Croatian: пу̀чина — part of the sea
  • Serbo-Croatian: pùčina — part of the sea
  • Spanish: piélago — part of the sea
  • Spanish: mar ancha — part of the sea
  • Swedish: öppet hav — part of the sea
  • Welsh: cefnfor — part of the sea
  • Welsh: môr mawr — part of the sea