Meanings
proper nounthe North Sea
- A marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain (in the west), Scandinavia (in the east) and Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and France (in the south).
Ypres was not the actual start of the front; that distinction belongs to Nieuport, a city on the North Sea twentyodd miles down the river Yser from Ypres.
1986 November 28, Jack Beatty, “Along the Western Front”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 18 Jul 2022Synonyms: German Ocean, German Sea
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounA marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain (in the west), Scandinavia (in the east) and Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and France (in the south).
Similar
Also see
Origin
- Old Englishnorþsǣ“northern sea, Bristol Channel, Baltic, North Sea”
- Middle EnglishNorth-see
- EnglishNorth Sea
From Middle English North-see, from Old English norþsǣ (“northern sea, Bristol Channel, Baltic, North Sea”), equivalent to north + sea. Cognate with West Frisian Noardsee (“North Sea”), Dutch Noordzee, German Nordsee, Danish Nordsøen, Swedish Nordsjön, Icelandic Norðursjór.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans Noordsee
- Noordseea marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Arabic بَحَر اَلشَّمَال
- بَحَر اَلشَّمَال (baḥar aš-šamāl)a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Basque Ipar itsasoa
- Ipar itsasoaa marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Bengali উত্তর সাগর
- উত্তর সাগর (uttor śagor)a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Bulgarian Северно море
- Северно мореa marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Catalan Mar del Nord
- Mar del Norda marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Chinese Mandarin 北海
- 北海 (Běihǎi)a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Czech Severní moře
- Severní mořea marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Danish Nordsøen, Vesterhavet
- Nordsøena marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
- Vesterhaveta marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Dutch Noordzee
- Noordzeea marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Esperanto Norda Maro
- Norda Maroa marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Estonian Põhjameri
- Põhjameria marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Finnish Pohjanmeri
- Pohjanmeria marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
French mer du Nord
- mer du Norda marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
German Nordsee
- Nordseea marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Greek Βόρεια Θάλασσα
- Βόρεια Θάλασσα (Vóreia Thálassa)a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Hebrew הים הצפוני
- הים הצפוני (ha-yam ha-tsafóni)a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Hindi उत्तरी सागर
- उत्तरी सागर (uttarī sāgar)a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Hungarian Északi-tenger
- Északi-tengera marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Icelandic Norðursjór
- Norðursjóra marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Indonesian Laut Utara
- Laut Utaraa marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Irish an Mhuir Thuaidh
- an Mhuir Thuaidha marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Italian mare del Nord
- mare del Norda marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Japanese 北海
- 北海 (Hokkai)a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Korean 북해
- 북해 (bukhae)a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Latin Mare Germanicum
- Mare Germanicuma marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Latvian Ziemeļjūra
- Ziemeļjūraa marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Lithuanian Šiaurės jūra
- Šiaurės jūraa marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Malay Laut Utara
- Laut Utaraa marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Norwegian Bokmål Nordsjøen
- Nordsjøena marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Persian دریای شمال
- دریای شمال (daryâ šomâl)a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Polish Morze Północne
- Morze Północnea marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Portuguese Mar do Norte
- Mar do Nortea marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Punjabi ਉੱਤਰੀ ਸਮੁੰਦਰ
- ਉੱਤਰੀ ਸਮੁੰਦਰ (uttarī samundar)a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Romanian Marea Nordului
- Marea Norduluia marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Russian Се́верное мо́ре
- Се́верное мо́ре (Sévernoje móre)a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Scottish Gaelic Muir a Tuath, Muir Lochlainn
- Muir a Tuatha marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
- Muir Lochlainna marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
- Cuan a Tuatha marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Slovak Severné more
- Severné morea marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Spanish Mar del Norte
- Mar del Nortea marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Swedish Nordsjön
- Nordsjöna marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Tamil வடகடல்
- வடகடல் (vaṭakaṭal)a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Thai ทะเลเหนือ
- ทะเลเหนือ (tá-lee-nʉ̌ʉa)a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Turkish Kuzey Denizi
- Kuzey Denizia marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Ukrainian Півні́чне мо́ре
- Півні́чне мо́ре (Pivníčne móre)a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Urdu بحیرہ شمال
- بحیرہ شمال (bahr-e-śamāl)a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Vietnamese Bắc Hải, Biển Bắc
- Bắc Hảia marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
- Biển Bắca marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Welsh Môr y Gogledd
- Môr y Gogledda marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Yiddish צפֿון ים
- צפֿון ים (tsofn-yam)a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Britain, Scandinavia and Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France
Cite this entry
APA
North Sea. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/North%20Sea
MLA
“North Sea.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/North%20Sea. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “North Sea,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/North%20Sea.
Source: North Sea on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.