The story
Partial calque of Dutch Waddenzee, leaving Dutch wadden (“mudflats”) untranslated; compare with Danish Vadehavet and German Wattenmeer.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Wadden Sea
Today it means: A shallow and narrow sea peripheral to the North Sea, situated between the Frisian Islands and the mainland coasts of Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. Full definition →