seafire

S1E1A1F4I1R1E1

noun

Light which sometimes occurs (caused by the bioluminescence or biophosphorescence of certain organisms) and is visible in seawater on dark nights, typically a pale blue or green colour.

OriginEnglish fire ← Middle English fyr ← Old English fȳr →
Scrabble 10
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Meanings

noun
  1. Light which sometimes occurs (caused by the bioluminescence or biophosphorescence of certain organisms) and is visible in seawater on dark nights, typically a pale blue or green colour.

    Then it shallowed to two and the oars churned up seafire all about us.

    1919 06, “Boys' Life”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), page 54
    3 more examples

    And when the moon goes down, lo, a wonder on the sea: the waves beat in flame upon the shore; it is fringed with phosphorescence of shifting hue, like acres of electric light. And that is […] that strange seafire we know as little as they who imagined a lake of fire and brimstone.

    1894, Moncure Daniel Conway, Lessons for the day, discourses, volume 1, page 10

    Bright seafire runs about a plunging keel / On vehement nights : and where black danger lies, / Gleam the torn breakers. / But all days reveal / Drear dooms for me, nor any nights disguise / Their menace: […]

    1895, Lionel Johnson, Poems, page 29

    Vaiki hit with a resounding splash amid a burst of seafire that was rising and breaking in luminous stars all over the anchorage. […] the next incoming wave. It crest was charged with the same flaming sea-stars, so that a greenish flame was reflected in the stream of the backwash.

    1923, J. Allan Dunn, “Wild Justice”, in Adventure, volume 39, page 75

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
marfire

Origin

  1. Englishsea
  2. Proto-Indo-European*péh₂wr̥
  3. Proto-Germanic*fōr
  4. Proto-West Germanic*fuir
  5. Old Englishfȳr
  6. Middle Englishfyr
  7. Englishfire
  8. Englishseafire

From sea + fire. Compare Shetland mareel from Old Norse marr (“sea”) + eldr (“fire”), and marfire.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Danish morild
  • morildbioluminescent or biophosphorescent light seen in seawater
German Meeresleuchten
  • Meeresleuchtenbioluminescent or biophosphorescent light seen in seawater
Norwegian Bokmål morild
  • morildbioluminescent or biophosphorescent light seen in seawater
Swedish mareld
  • mareldbioluminescent or biophosphorescent light seen in seawater

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

freesia
Cite this entry
APA

seafire. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/seafire

MLA

“seafire.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/seafire. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “seafire,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/seafire.

Source: seafire on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.