Standard Lemma guide

pelagic

adj · noun · 4 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.

  • /pəˈlæd͡ʒɪk/
  • /pɛˈlæd͡ʒɪk/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ædʒɪk
  • CMU ARPABET: P AH0 L AE1 JH IH0 K Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Living in the open sea rather than in coastal or inland waters.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biology, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Of or pertaining to oceans.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Any organism that lives in the open sea rather than in coastal or inland waters.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biology, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adjective

Meaning 4

relating to or occurring or living in or frequenting the open ocean

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • oceanic islands like Bermuda
  • oceanic currents
  • oceanic birds
  • pelagic organisms
  • pelagic whaling

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: oceanic

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Latin pelagicus (and possibly pelagus); from Ancient Greek πελαγικός (pelagikós), from πέλαγος (pélagos, “sea”). By surface analysis, -pelag + -ic.

Across languages

Translations

19 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: пелаги́чен (pelagíčen) — living in the open sea
  • Bulgarian: пелаги́чески (pelagíčeski) — living in the open sea
  • Bulgarian: мо́рски (mórski) — living in the open sea
  • Bulgarian: океа́нски (okeánski) — living in the open sea
  • Catalan: pelàgic — living in the open sea
  • Czech: pelagický — living in the open sea
  • Dutch: pelagisch — living in the open sea
  • Finnish: pelaginen — living in the open sea
  • French: pélagique — living in the open sea
  • Galician: peláxico — living in the open sea
  • German: pelagisch — living in the open sea
  • Greek: πελαγικός (pelagikós) — living in the open sea
  • Italian: pelagico — living in the open sea
  • Japanese: 外洋性の (gaiyōsei no) — living in the open sea
  • Korean: 원양 (wonyang) — living in the open sea
  • Polish: żyjący blisko powierzchni wody — living in the open sea
  • Portuguese: pelágico — living in the open sea
  • Romanian: pelagic — living in the open sea
  • Spanish: pelágico — living in the open sea