open sea

noun

That part of the sea out of sight of land.

Similar
open oceanmain
OriginMiddle English open see →
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Meanings

nounopen sea (countable and uncountable, plural open seas)

plural open seas

  1. countableuncountableThat part of the sea out of sight of land.

    Synonyms: open ocean, main

  2. countableuncountableA sea open to all nations, i.e. not a mare clausum.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounThat part of the sea out of sight of land.

Similar
open oceanmain
Also see
high seas

Origin

  1. Middle Englishopen see
  2. Englishopen sea

From Middle English open see, open se, equivalent to open + sea.

More words from Middle English

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan alta mar
  • alta marpart of the sea
Chinese Mandarin 外海
  • 外海 (wàihǎi)part of the sea
Dutch open zee, volle zee
  • open zeepart of the sea
  • volle zeepart of the sea
Finnish avomeri, aava
  • avomeripart of the sea
  • aavapart of the sea
  • aava meripart of the sea
  • selkämeripart of the sea
  • ulappapart of the sea
  • ulkomeripart of the sea
French haute mer, large
  • haute merpart of the sea
  • largepart of the sea
Hebrew הַיָּם הַפָּתוּחַ
  • הַיָּם הַפָּתוּחַ (hayam hapatuakh)part of the sea
Irish mórmhuir
  • mórmhuirpart of the sea
Italian alto mare
  • alto marepart of the sea
Japanese 外海, 沖
  • 外海 (gaikai)part of the sea
  • 沖 (oki)part of the sea
Korean 외해
  • 외해 (oehae)part of the sea
Māori moana waiwai, tahora
  • moana waiwaipart of the sea
  • tahorapart of the sea
  • moana tuauriuripart of the sea
Norwegian Bokmål åpent hav
  • åpent havpart of the sea
Polish pełne morze, otwarte morze
  • pełne morzepart of the sea
  • otwarte morzepart of the sea
Portuguese alto mar, mar aberto
  • alto marpart of the sea
  • mar abertopart of the sea
Russian откры́тое мо́ре
  • откры́тое мо́ре (otkrýtoje móre)part of the sea
Spanish piélago, mar ancha
  • piélagopart of the sea
  • mar anchapart of the sea
Swedish öppet hav
  • öppet havpart of the sea
Welsh cefnfor, môr mawr
  • cefnforpart of the sea
  • môr mawrpart of the sea
Cite this entry
APA

open sea. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/open%20sea

MLA

“open sea.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/open%20sea. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “open sea,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/open%20sea.

Source: open sea on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.