Meanings
black sea1
proper noun
- Alternative letter-case form of Black Sea.
Black Sea2
proper nounthe Black Sea
- An inland sea bound by Southeastern Europe in the west, Eastern Europe in the north and northeast, and Turkey in the south.
Origin
- Old Iranian
- Ottoman Turkishقره دكز“Black Sea”
- EnglishBlack Sea
Calque of Ottoman Turkish قره دكز (Kara Deñiz, “Black Sea”) (modern Turkish Karadeniz) (from kara (“black, dark; north”) + deniz (“sea”)). Compare Russian Чёрное мо́ре (Čórnoje móre). The Turkish word is derived from the languages of the Near East, which is ultimately from an Old Iranian name: the primary Ancient Greek name Πόντος Ἄξεινος (Póntos Áxeinos) (first attested in 462 BC) is a rendering of Old Iranian *axšainah (“dark-colored”). The naming is according to the system in which color names indicated the cardinal points (black [or dark] for north, red for south, white for west, and green or light blue for east); compare Red Sea. It is supposedly named as such by the Achaemenids; see Iranica for details.
More words from Ottoman Turkish, Old Iranian
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans Swartsee
- Swartseean inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Ancient Greek Πόντος Ἄξεινος, Πόντος Εὔξεινος
- Πόντος Ἄξεινος (Póntos Áxeinos)an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
- Πόντος Εὔξεινος (Póntos Eúxeinos)an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
- Πόντος (Póntos)an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Arabic الْبَحْر الْأَسْوَد, بَحْرُ نِيطَش
- الْبَحْر الْأَسْوَد (al-baḥr al-ʔaswad)an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
- بَحْرُ نِيطَش (baḥru nīṭaš)an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Basque Itsaso Beltza
- Itsaso Beltzaan inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Bengali কালা দরিয়া, কৃষ্ণ সাগর
- কালা দরিয়া (kala doriẏa)an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
- কৃষ্ণ সাগর (kriśno śagor)an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Bulgarian Че́рно море́
- Че́рно море́ (Čérno moré)an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Catalan Mar Negra
- Mar Negraan inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Chinese Mandarin 黑海
- 黑海 (Hēihǎi)an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Czech Černé moře
- Černé mořean inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Danish Sortehavet
- Sortehavetan inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Dutch Zwarte Zee
- Zwarte Zeean inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Esperanto Nigra Maro
- Nigra Maroan inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Estonian Must meri
- Must merian inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Finnish Mustameri
- Mustamerian inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
French mer Noire
- mer Noirean inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
German Schwarzes Meer
- Schwarzes Meeran inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Greek Μαύρη Θάλασσα, Εύξεινος Πόντος
- Μαύρη Θάλασσα (Mávri Thálassa)an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
- Εύξεινος Πόντος (Éfxeinos Póntos)an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Hebrew הַיָּם הַשָּׁחֹר \ הים השחור
- הַיָּם הַשָּׁחֹר \ הים השחור (ha-yam ha-shakhór)an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Hindi कृष्ण सागर, काला समुद्र
- कृष्ण सागर (kŕṣṇa sāgar)an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
- काला समुद्र (kālā samudra)an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
- काला समुंदर (kālā samundar)an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
- काला सागर (kālā sāgar)an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Hungarian Fekete-tenger
- Fekete-tengeran inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Icelandic Svartahaf
- Svartahafan inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Indonesian Laut Hitam
- Laut Hitaman inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Irish an Mhuir Dhubh
- an Mhuir Dhubhan inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Italian Mar Nero
- Mar Neroan inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Japanese 黒海
- 黒海 (Kokkai)an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Korean 흑해
- 흑해 (Heukhae)an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Latin Pontus Euxinus, Pontus
- Pontus Euxinusan inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
- Pontusan inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Latvian Melnā jūra
- Melnā jūraan inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Lithuanian Juodoji jūra
- Juodoji jūraan inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Malay Laut Hitam
- Laut Hitaman inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Norwegian Svartehavet
- Svartehavetan inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Persian دریای سیاه, دریای گرز
- دریای سیاه (daryâ-ye siyâh)an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
- دریای گرز (daryā-yi Gurz)an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
- دریای گرجیان (emended)an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Polish Morze Czarne
- Morze Czarnean inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Portuguese Mar Negro
- Mar Negroan inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Punjabi ਕਾਲ਼ਾ ਸਮੁੰਦਰ
- ਕਾਲ਼ਾ ਸਮੁੰਦਰ (kāḷā samundar)an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Romanian Marea Neagră
- Marea Neagrăan inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Russian Чёрное мо́ре
- Чёрное мо́ре (Čórnoje móre)an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Scottish Gaelic Am Muir Dubh
- Am Muir Dubhan inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Slovak Čierne more
- Čierne morean inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Spanish Mar Negro
- Mar Negroan inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Swahili Bahari Nyeusi
- Bahari Nyeusian inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Swedish Svarta havet
- Svarta havetan inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Tagalog Dagat Itim
- Dagat Itiman inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Tamil கருங்கடல்
- கருங்கடல் (karuṅkaṭal)an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Thai ทะเลดำ
- ทะเลดำ (tá-lee dam)an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Turkish Karadeniz
- Karadenizan inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Ukrainian Чо́рне мо́ре
- Чо́рне мо́ре (Čórne móre)an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Urdu بحیرہ اسود
- بحیرہ اسودan inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Vietnamese Biển Đen, Hắc Hải
- Biển Đenan inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
- Hắc Hảian inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Welsh Môr Du
- Môr Duan inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Yiddish שווארצער ים
- שווארצער ים (shvartser yam)an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor
Cite this entry
APA
black sea. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black%20sea
MLA
“black sea.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black%20sea. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “black sea,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black%20sea.
Source: black sea on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.