Maritima

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Relating to or situated by the sea or ocean
2. often used to describe species that inhabit marine environments
3. pertaining to matters associated with maritime activities or the marine ecosystem

Etymology: "Maritima" is the feminine form of the Latin adjective "maritimus," meaning "of the sea" or "belonging to the sea." It comes from "mare," the Latin word for sea, which is ultimately related to English "mere" (as in a lake), though the link is distant and the two words took different paths through Germanic and Latin. The suffix "-timus" marks the adjective, and it appears in the same form in "maritimus" as in related Latin words for "near the sea." In English, the word mostly survives in botanical and zoological Latin names, where a species is called "maritima" because it grows or lives along the coast. Thrift, or sea-pink, is "Armeria maritima," and the sea aster carries a similar name. Such naming follows the convention of giving plants and animals Latin binomials, so the adjective was chosen to tell the reader where the organism is typically found.

Synonyms: maritime, coastal, marine, seaside

Antonyms: inland, continental, interior