KANJI: KAI umi (sea, ocean)

ASCII Art Representation:

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Character Etymology:

The radical for water (at left) combined with the radical meaning every, which may also act phonetically to express salty. Thus, "every drop of salty water."

"All waters finish in the sea."

A Listing of All On-Yomi and Kun-Yomi Readings:

on-yomi: KAI
kun-yomi: umi

Nanori Readings:

Nanori: a ama una un e ka ta hiro hiroshi bu machi mama mi me wataru

English Definitions:

  1. KA, umi: sea, ocean.

Character Index Numbers:

New Nelson: 3133
Henshall: 88

Unicode Encoded Version:

Unicode Encoded Compound Examples:

海軍 (kagun): navy.
(nihonkai): Sea of Japan; Japan Sea.
(kaisui): sea water.

 

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"The sea's name is inien, well and good. But what we call The Inmost Sea has its own name also in the Old Speech. Since no thing can have two true names, inien can only mean 'all the sea except the Inmost Sea'.  And of course it does not mean even that, for there are seas and bays and straits beyond counting that bear names of their own. So if some Mage-Seamaster were mad enough to try to lay a spell of storm or calm over the entire ocean, his spell must say not only that word inien, but the name of every stretch and bit and part of the sea through all the Archipelago and all the Outer Reaches and beyond to where all names cease."

- A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. LeGuin


Many areas of the world ocean, smaller than the five oceans, have their own names.  I make no claims as to consistency of detail. Names are represented in English unless there is a well-known name that is not simply a translation, or if I feel that translating the name would have an awkward result. Of course, you are free to /msg me if you think I missed something important.

Inland Seas

Arctic Ocean Atlantic Ocean Indian Ocean Indonesia and Southeast Asia Pacific Ocean Southern Ocean

Sea (?), n. [OE. see, AS. s&aemac;; akin to D. zee, OS. & OHG. s&emac;o, G. see, OFries. se, Dan. so, Sw. sjo, Icel. saer, Goth. saiws, and perhaps to L. saevus firce, savage. &root; 151 a.]

1.

One of the larger bodies of salt water, less than an ocean, found on the earth's surface; a body of salt water of second rank, generally forming part of, or connecting with, an ocean or a larger sea; as, the Mediterranean Sea; the Sea of Marmora; the North Sea; the Carribean Sea.

2.

An inland body of water, esp. if large or if salt or brackish; as, the Caspian Sea; the Sea of Aral; sometimes, a small fresh-water lake; as, the Sea of Galilee.

3.

The ocean; the whole body of the salt water which covers a large part of the globe.

I marvel how the fishes live in the sea. Shak.

Ambiguous between sea and land The river horse and scaly crocodile. Milton.

4.

The swell of the ocean or other body of water in a high wind; motion of the water's surface; also, a single wave; a billow; as, there was a high sea after the storm; the vessel shipped a sea.

5. Jewish Antiq.

A great brazen laver in the temple at Jerusalem; -- so called from its size.

He made a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass, and five cubits the height thereof. 2 Chron. iv. 2.

6.

Fig.: Anything resembling the sea in vastness; as, a sea of glory.

Shak.

All the space . . . was one sea of heads. Macaulay.

Sea is often used in the composition of words of obvious signification; as, sea-bathed, sea-beaten, sea-bound, sea-bred, sea-circled, sealike, sea-nursed, sea-tossed, sea-walled, sea-worn, and the like. It is also used either adjectively or in combination with substantives; as, sea bird, sea-bird, or seabird, sea acorn, or sea-acorn.

At sea, upon the ocean; away from land; figuratively, without landmarks for guidance; lost; at the mercy of circumstances. "To say the old man was at sea would be too feeble an expression." G. W. Cable -- At full sea at the height of flood tide; hence, at the height. "But now God's mercy was at full sea." Jer. Taylor. -- Beyond seas, or Beyond the sea or the seas Law, out of the state, territory, realm, or country. Wharton. -- Half seas over, half drunk. [Colloq.] Spectator. -- Heavy sea, a sea in which the waves run high. -- Long sea, a sea characterized by the uniform and steady motion of long and extensive waves. -- Short sea, a sea in which the waves are short, broken, and irregular, so as to produce a tumbling or jerking motion. -- To go to sea, a adopt the calling or occupation of a sailor.

 

© Webster 1913.

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