Meanings
- pluralplural onlyinternational lawThose parts of the ocean that are not legally recognized as being under the jurisdiction of any national government.
Beijing claims sovereignty over Taiwan despite China's ruling Communist Party never having controlled the island -- and considers the strait part of its "internal waters." The US Navy, however, says most of the strait is in international waters.
2022 August 28, Brad Lendon, “US sends two warships through Taiwan Strait, in first transit since Pelosi trip”, in CNN, archived from the original on 28 Aug 2022Synonyms: high seas
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThose parts of the ocean that are not legally recognized as being under the jurisdiction of any national government.
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe open seas of the world outside the territorial waters of any nation
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Catalan aigües internacionals
- aigües internacionalsocean not belonging to any country
Chinese Mandarin 公海
- 公海 (gōnghǎi)ocean not belonging to any country
Dutch internationale wateren
- internationale waterenocean not belonging to any country
Esperanto internacia maro
- internacia maroocean not belonging to any country
Finnish kansainväliset vedet
- kansainväliset vedetocean not belonging to any country
French eaux internationales
- eaux internationalesocean not belonging to any country
German Internationale Gewässer
- Internationale Gewässerocean not belonging to any country
Greek διεθνή ύδατα
- διεθνή ύδατα (diethní ýdata)ocean not belonging to any country
Indonesian perairan internasional
- perairan internasionalocean not belonging to any country
Irish uiscí idirnáisiúnta
- uiscí idirnáisiúntaocean not belonging to any country
Japanese 公海
- 公海 (kōkai)ocean not belonging to any country
Korean 공해
- 공해 (gonghae)ocean not belonging to any country
Norwegian Bokmål internasjonalt farvann
- internasjonalt farvannocean not belonging to any country
Persian آبهای بینالمللی
- آبهای بینالمللی (âb-hâ-ye beyn-ol-melali)ocean not belonging to any country
Polish wody międzynarodowe
- wody międzynarodoweocean not belonging to any country
Portuguese águas internacionais
- águas internacionaisocean not belonging to any country
Russian междунаро́дные во́ды, нейтра́льные во́ды
- междунаро́дные во́ды (meždunaródnyje vódy)ocean not belonging to any country
- нейтра́льные во́ды (nejtrálʹnyje vódy)ocean not belonging to any country
- откры́тое мо́ре (otkrýtoje móre)ocean not belonging to any country
Spanish aguas internacionales
- aguas internacionalesocean not belonging to any country
Ukrainian міжнаро́дні во́ди
- міжнаро́дні во́ди (mižnaródni vódy)ocean not belonging to any country
Vietnamese vùng biển quốc tế
- vùng biển quốc tếocean not belonging to any country
Welsh dyfroedd rhyngwladol
- dyfroedd rhyngwladolocean not belonging to any country
Cite this entry
international waters. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/international%20waters
“international waters.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/international%20waters. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “international waters,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/international%20waters.
Source: international waters on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.