Standard Lemma guide

seawater

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.

  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: S IY1 W AA2 T ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: S IY1 W AO2 T ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Consisting of seawater.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

  • The continual seawater splashes corroded our equipment

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Associated in some way with seawater, or intended for dealing with seawater.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

  • The sharks in the aquarium had to be kept in a seawater tank
  • Aboard the ship we needed seawater soap for washing our clothes
  • Though it was a nuisance to arrange them, we found the seawater showers very refreshing

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The saltwater of a sea or ocean.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

water containing salts

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the water in the ocean is all saltwater

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: saltwater, brine

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: water, H2O

Narrower terms: red tide

History

Etymology

From Middle English seewater, se water, from Old English sǣwæter (“seawater”), equivalent to sea + water. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Seewoater (“seawater”), West Frisian seewetter (“seawater”), Dutch zeewater (“seawater”), Icelandic sjóvatn (“seawater”).

Across languages

Translations

51 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Southern Altai: теҥис суу (teŋis suu) — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Bulgarian: мо́рска вода́ (mórska vodá) — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Chinese Mandarin: 海水 (hǎishuǐ) — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Ngazidja Comorian: fumbu — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Danish: havvand — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Dutch: zeewater — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Finnish: merivesi — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • French: eau de mer — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Galician: auga salgada — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Galician: salsa — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Georgian: ზღვის წყალი (zɣvis c̣q̇ali) — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • German: Meerwasser — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • German: Salzwasser — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Ancient Greek: ὕδωρ θαλάσσιον (húdōr thalássion) — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Hebrew: מֵי יָם (mey yam) — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Hungarian: tengervíz — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Irish: sáile — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Japanese: 海水 (kaisui) — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Kapampangan: danumdayat — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Kazakh: теңіз суы (teñız suy) — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Khmer: ទឹកសមុទ្រ (tœ̆ksâmŭtr) — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Khmer: ទឹកប្រៃ (tɨkpray) — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Korean: 해수 (haesu) — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Korean: 바닷물 (badanmul) — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Malay: air laut — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Māori: waitai — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Marathi: समुद्रजल (samudrajal) — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Norwegian Bokmål: havvann — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Norwegian Bokmål: sjøvann — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Norwegian Bokmål: sjøvatn — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: havvatn — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: sjøvatn — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Polish: woda morska — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Portuguese: água do mar — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Portuguese: água salgada — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Russian: морска́я вода́ (morskája vodá) — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Russian: солёная вода́ (soljónaja vodá) — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Spanish: agua salada — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Swedish: havsvatten — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Tagalog: tubig-dagat — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Tagalog: labuklabok — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Tamil: கடல்நீர் (kaṭalnīr) — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Thai: น้ําทะเล (nám-tá-lee) — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Thai: น้ําเค็ม (nám-kem) — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Tok Pisin: solwara — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Tokelauan: huātai — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Tokelauan: vaitai — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Turkish: deniz suyu — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Vietnamese: nước biển — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Welsh: dŵr y môr — salt water of a sea or ocean
  • Woiwurrung: palem warren — salt water of a sea or ocean
Real reading context

seawater in complete knowledge articles