Oceanic

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˌəʊʃiˈænɪk/

Definitions

1. Pertaining to the vast body of saltwater that covers much of the Earth's surface, encompassing its ecosystems and geographical features
2. Relating to the expansive and deep waters of the planet, including the diverse marine life and ecological systems found therein
3. Connected with the large saltwater bodies covering most of Earth ; associated with the immense size and depth of oceanic waters

Etymology: Ancient Greeks knew the ocean as Ōkeanós, a vast river encircling the flat earth, and the Latin "ōceanus" carried that same sense of an all-encircling sea. "Oceanic" was built from this Latin base in English, which means it is a borrowed Latinate form rather than a word the Romans themselves used as an adjective. The Latin "ōceanicus" supplied the adjective, and English took it directly. Structurally the word is simple: "ocean" plus the suffix "-ic," which turns a noun into an adjective meaning "relating to" or "characteristic of." It is a doublet of "oceany," a rarer English adjective that came from the same Latin source by a different route, so the two words are cousins that never quite merged.

Synonyms: marine, nautical, aquatic, oceanlike, seawater

Antonyms: land, terrestrial, inland, nonmarine, dry