Pelagos

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An extensive area of ocean, particularly one that is deep and devoid of any land formations
2. A vast expanse of open water that is not defined by coastal features or shallow waters
3. A region of the sea characterized by its depth and distance from shore, often associated with maritime ecosystems

Etymology: Homer's epics use "pelagos" constantly for the sea as a vast, open expanse, the water beyond the beaches and harbours where ships are launched and hauled ashore. In the Iliad and Odyssey, a ship making its way over the "pelagos" is out of sight of land, which is exactly the sense the modern definition keeps. The word's deeper origin is uncertain. It is likely related to the Greek root behind "platys," meaning "broad" or "flat," which would suggest the sense of a wide, spreading surface. In English, the word survives mainly in its adjective form, "pelagic," used by biologists and oceanographers for creatures and zones of the open ocean, far from the seabed and the coast.

Synonyms: open sea, deep sea, ocean

Antonyms: coast, shore, land