Ocean in Different Languages
Discover 'Ocean' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The ocean is a magnificent and awe-inspiring force of nature that connects all corners of the globe. It regulates our climate, produces over half of the world's oxygen, and is home to a vast array of unique and fascinating creatures. The ocean's significance extends far beyond its ecological role, as it has been a source of inspiration for countless artists, writers, and dreamers throughout history.
In many cultures, the ocean is a symbol of mystery, power, and the unknown. It's a place where people have sought adventure, exploration, and discovery for centuries. From the Polynesian voyagers who navigated the Pacific Ocean using stars and waves, to the European explorers who set sail in search of new lands and resources, the ocean has played a crucial role in shaping human history and culture.
Understanding the translation of the word 'ocean' in different languages can provide valuable insights into how different cultures perceive and interact with this magnificent body of water. Here are a few examples:
- In Spanish: 'océano'
- In French: 'océan'
- In German: 'Ozean'
- In Mandarin: '海' ('hǎi')
- In Japanese: '海' ('umi')
- In Arabic: 'البحر' ('al-bahr')
Stay tuned for a more comprehensive list of translations of the word 'ocean' in different languages, along with interesting facts and historical contexts associated with each translation.
Ocean
Ocean in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | oseaan | ||
| Oseaan comes from the Greek word "Ōkeanos", which referred to the world-encircling river or "ocean" in ancient mythology. | |||
| Amharic | ውቅያኖስ | ||
| ውቅያኖስ was first used by ancient Greeks for rivers encircling the Earth and in modern Ge'ez it refers to both seas and oceans. | |||
| Hausa | teku | ||
| The word "teku" in Hausa has cognates in other Chadic languages such as the Kanuri words "teko" and "teku" meaning "river" or "creek". | |||
| Igbo | oké osimiri | ||
| The Igbo word "oké osimiri" can also mean a large body of water, such as a lake or a river. | |||
| Malagasy | ranomasimbe | ||
| The word "ranomasimbe" in Malagasy has an alternate meaning of "water of life". | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | nyanja | ||
| The Nyanja word "nyanja" is thought to have a root in a Proto-Bantu word that also means "lake" and has cognates in several Bantu languages. | |||
| Shona | gungwa | ||
| The word "gungwa" can also refer to the "deep end" of a body of water. | |||
| Somali | badweynta | ||
| The word 'badweynta' is a plural form, with the singular being 'bad' or 'badweyn'. | |||
| Sesotho | leoatle | ||
| The word "leoatle" is related to the word "leboa", meaning "to swim". | |||
| Swahili | bahari | ||
| The word "Bahari" is derived from the Arabic word "bahr", also meaning "ocean". | |||
| Xhosa | ulwandle | ||
| The word 'ulwandle' in Xhosa is also synonymous with 'sea' or any large body of water. | |||
| Yoruba | okun | ||
| The word "okun" in Yoruba can also refer to the deity of the ocean, or to a lagoon, or to the sea. | |||
| Zulu | ulwandle | ||
| The word 'ulwandle' is a composite of 'ulu' (great) and 'wandle' (water), hence 'great water'. | |||
| Bambara | kɔgɔjiba | ||
| Ewe | atsiaƒu | ||
| Kinyarwanda | inyanja | ||
| Lingala | mbu | ||
| Luganda | amazzi | ||
| Sepedi | lewatle | ||
| Twi (Akan) | pobunu | ||
Ocean in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | محيط | ||
| "محيط" (muhīt) is derived from the root "حيط" (h-y-ṭ), meaning to surround, encompass, or enclose. It can also refer to an area or space that surrounds or encompasses something else." | |||
| Hebrew | אוקיינוס | ||
| The Greek word “Okeanos”, from which “אוקיינוס” (“ocean”) is derived, originally referred to the vast river that was thought to encircle the world. | |||
| Pashto | بحر | ||
| In Pashto, "بحر" can also refer to a large river, lake, or sea. | |||
| Arabic | محيط | ||
| "محيط" (muhīt) is derived from the root "حيط" (h-y-ṭ), meaning to surround, encompass, or enclose. It can also refer to an area or space that surrounds or encompasses something else." | |||
Ocean in Western European Languages
| Albanian | oqean | ||
| The Albanian word "oqean" is a cognate of the Latin word "oceanus", which in turn comes from the Greek word "ὠκεανός" (Okeanos), the personification of the ocean in Greek mythology. | |||
| Basque | ozeanoa | ||
| The word 'ozeanoa' has its origin in Ancient Greek ('Ωκεανός') and is related to other words like 'Oceans', 'Oceania' and 'oceanography'. | |||
| Catalan | oceà | ||
| Although the word "oceà" in Catalan has its origin in the Greek word "ὠκεανός", it also shares a common root with the Latin word "aquosus" (aquatic), which highlights its connection to water. | |||
| Croatian | ocean | ||
| The word 'ocean' in Croatian is derived from the Greek word 'ōkeanos', meaning 'world ocean' or 'great stream surrounding the Earth'. | |||
| Danish | ocean | ||
| The Danish word 'ocean' can also refer to a large lake, such as the Aral Sea or the Caspian Sea. | |||
| Dutch | oceaan | ||
| In Dutch, "oceaan" can refer to either the ocean as a whole or a specific ocean, such as the Atlantic or Pacific. | |||
| English | ocean | ||
| Ocean comes from the Greek Okeanos, the personification of the great global river encircling the Earth. | |||
| French | océan | ||
| The word "océan" in French derives from ancient Greek "ōkeanos," a mythical river encircling the world. | |||
| Frisian | oseaan | ||
| The Frisian word "oseaan" is derived from the Old Frisian word "ôse", meaning "water" or "sea". | |||
| Galician | océano | ||
| The Galician word "océano" comes from the Latin "oceanus" which in turn comes from the Greek "ὠκεανός" meaning "vast body of water surrounding the land" | |||
| German | ozean | ||
| The word "Ozean" is derived from the Greek word "oceanus", which means "the great river surrounding the world". | |||
| Icelandic | haf | ||
| The word "haf" in Icelandic is derived from the Old Norse word "haf" meaning "sea" or "ocean," and is also related to the Germanic word "habe" meaning "to have" or "to hold." | |||
| Irish | aigéan | ||
| The word "aigéan" in Irish comes from the Ancient Greek "ōkeanos," meaning "vast, all-encompassing body of water." | |||
| Italian | oceano | ||
| The Italian word "oceano" originates from the Greek word "okeanos," meaning "great river that encircles the Earth." | |||
| Luxembourgish | ozean | ||
| In Luxembourgish, "Ozean" can refer to either the ocean or a vast expanse of land, suggesting its dual etymology from both Latin and German. | |||
| Maltese | oċean | ||
| The Maltese word "oċean" is thought to be derived from the Greek "ōkeanós," which also refers to the personification of the primordial ocean. | |||
| Norwegian | hav | ||
| The word "hav" can also refer to a body of water that is smaller than an ocean, such as a sea or a lake. | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | oceano | ||
| "Oceano" is thought to derive from ancient Greek "Okeanos", meaning "vast sea", or from "Okeanos", god of the river that was supposed to encircle the flat earth. | |||
| Scots Gaelic | cuan | ||
| The Scots Gaelic term 'cuan', meaning 'ocean', also refers to a specific ocean body or a wide, tidal body of water. | |||
| Spanish | oceano | ||
| The word "Oceano" derives from the Greek "Okeanos", the personification of the great river encircling the world, or the stream from which all rivers originate. | |||
| Swedish | hav | ||
| "Hav" is a Germanic word also found in English as "have" and in German as "heben" (to lift). | |||
| Welsh | cefnfor | ||
| "Cefnfor" is related to the Proto-Celtic "ceano" meaning "a gap" or "hollow". | |||
Ocean in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | акіян | ||
| The word "акіян" derives from the Greek word "ὠκεανός" (Okeanos), the personification of the circumfluent river surrounding the world. | |||
| Bosnian | okean | ||
| Bosnian "okean" originated from Greek "Okeanos", a mythological figure personifying the ocean. | |||
| Bulgarian | океан | ||
| The word "океан" in Bulgarian can also refer to a large body of water, such as a sea or lake. | |||
| Czech | oceán | ||
| The word "oceán" in Czech can also mean "Atlantic Ocean" or "sea", depending on the context. | |||
| Estonian | ookean | ||
| The word "ookean" is of Greek origin and shares the same root as the English word "ocean". | |||
| Finnish | valtameri | ||
| "Valtameri" is a compound of "valta" (power) and "meri" (sea), hence "mighty sea". | |||
| Hungarian | óceán | ||
| The word "óceán" in Hungarian shares its etymology with the Greek word "Ωκεανός" (Okeanos), which was the name of a primordial sea deity in Greek mythology. | |||
| Latvian | okeāns | ||
| In ancient Greek mythology, Ὠκεανός (Ōkeanós) is the primordial deity of the world-encircling river Oceanus, and by extension, the sea. | |||
| Lithuanian | vandenynas | ||
| The word "vandenynas" is derived from the Proto-Baltic word *wanduo, meaning "water". | |||
| Macedonian | океан | ||
| The word "океан" comes from the Greek word "ὠκεανός", which originally referred to the Earth-encircling river of the underworld. | |||
| Polish | ocean | ||
| The word "ocean" derives from the Greek "okeanos", which originally referred to the vast river encircling the world. | |||
| Romanian | ocean | ||
| The Romanian word "ocean" can also mean "sea" or "lake" depending on the context. | |||
| Russian | океан | ||
| "Океан" происходит от греческого слова "ōkeanos", которое означает "безграничный поток". | |||
| Serbian | океан | ||
| The word "океан" derives from the Ancient Greek word "ὠκεανός" (Ōkeanós), referring to the primordial river encircling the world. | |||
| Slovak | oceán | ||
| The word "oceán" is not used in Slovak, the correct word for "ocean" is "oceán (m)" (pronounced oh-TSAY-ahn), derived from the Greek "okeanos", meaning "the great stream that encircles the earth". | |||
| Slovenian | ocean | ||
| The Slovenian word "ocean" comes from the Greek word "okeanos," which means the "great river that encircles the world." | |||
| Ukrainian | океану | ||
| The Ukrainian word "океану" is related to the Greek "ὠκεανός" (Ōkeanós), the personification of the primordial river encircling the world. | |||
Ocean in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | সমুদ্র | ||
| Derived from Sanskrit, 'samundra' means 'coming together of waters'. | |||
| Gujarati | સમુદ્ર | ||
| The word "samudra" is derived from the Sanskrit word "samudra", which means "a gathering of waters". | |||
| Hindi | सागर | ||
| The word 'सागर' (sāgar) derives from the Sanskrit root 'sāg', meaning 'to move' or 'to stream'. | |||
| Kannada | ಸಾಗರ | ||
| In Kannada, "ಸಾಗರ" (sagara) also refers to a lake or a large body of water. | |||
| Malayalam | സമുദ്രം | ||
| The word 'സമുദ്രം' ('samudram') in Malayalam is derived from the Sanskrit word 'samudra', meaning 'gathering of water'. | |||
| Marathi | समुद्र | ||
| समुद्र (samudra) may also refer to the convergence of rivers or the place where rivers meet the ocean. | |||
| Nepali | सागर | ||
| The word 'सागर' originated from the ancient Indo-Aryan root 'sagh' which denotes 'to be spacious. | |||
| Punjabi | ਸਮੁੰਦਰ | ||
| "ਸਮੁੰਦਰ" (samundar) is derived from the Sanskrit word "samudra", which originally referred to the "confluence of rivers" or a "large lake". | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | සාගරය | ||
| "සාගරය" is derived from the Sanskrit word "सागर" (sāgara), which means "ocean" or "sea". | |||
| Tamil | கடல் | ||
| The word 'கடல்' in Tamil can also mean 'forest', 'multitude', and 'darkness'. | |||
| Telugu | సముద్ర | ||
| The word 'సముద్ర' can also refer to a 'large assembly' or 'gathering' in Telugu. | |||
| Urdu | سمندر | ||
| The word “سمندر“ also means “crocodile” and is derived from Sanskrit “samudra.” | |||
Ocean in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 海洋 | ||
| 海洋 also means “sea” and its etymology (海) refers to the large body of salt water that covers most of the earth's surface. | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 海洋 | ||
| 海洋 literally means "great sea" and refers to both oceans and other large bodies of water. | |||
| Japanese | 海洋 | ||
| The word "海洋" is derived from the Chinese word "海", meaning "sea", and "洋", meaning "vast". It can also refer to the sea or the ocean in general. | |||
| Korean | 대양 | ||
| While the word '대양' has historically meant 'great river', some linguists theorize it may also derive from an Altaic language root meaning 'water'. | |||
| Mongolian | далай | ||
| The Mongolian word "далай" has been found in the 1225 Mongolian-Persian dictionary as "Dalai", meaning "sea". | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | သမုဒ္ဒရာ | ||
Ocean in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | lautan | ||
| The word "lautan" is also used in Malay and Javanese, where its original meaning is "extensive area of water", which can refer to the ocean, a sea, or even a large lake. | |||
| Javanese | samodra | ||
| In Javanese, "samodra" also denotes a "wide river," or sometimes "lake" depending on context | |||
| Khmer | មហាសមុទ្រ | ||
| "មហាសមុទ្រ" is derived from Sanskrit meaning "great gathering of water": "maha: "large/great" and "samudra": "gathering of water". | |||
| Lao | ມະຫາສະ ໝຸດ | ||
| In Thai, the equivalent is มหาสมุทร ( | |||
| Malay | laut | ||
| The term is also applied to bodies of water smaller than oceans or seas, such as lakes and bays. | |||
| Thai | มหาสมุทร | ||
| The word มหาสมุทร (mahāsamut) comes from the Sanskrit word महासागर (mahāsāgara), which means 'great gathering of water'. | |||
| Vietnamese | đại dương | ||
| The word "đại dương" is derived from two Sino-Vietnamese morphemes: "đại" meaning "big" or "great," and "dương" meaning "water" or "ocean." | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | karagatan | ||
Ocean in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | okean | ||
| "Okean" is derived from the Greek word "okeanos" meaning "great river" and originally referred to the mythical river circling the flat Earth. | |||
| Kazakh | мұхит | ||
| The Kazakh word "мұхит" (ocean) also means "sea" | |||
| Kyrgyz | океан | ||
| The word "океан" has Persian origin and is associated with a wide water space. | |||
| Tajik | уқёнус | ||
| The Tajik word "уқёнус" (ocean) is derived from the Greek word "ὠκεανός" (Okeanos), which refers to the primordial river encircling the Earth. | |||
| Turkmen | umman | ||
| Uzbek | okean | ||
| The word `okean` in Uzbek ultimately derives from the Greek word `okeanos` meaning `a great river encircling the earth`. | |||
| Uyghur | ئوكيان | ||
Ocean in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | moana, kai | ||
| Moana can also refer to the realm of the ocean and gods within Polynesian mythology. | |||
| Maori | moana | ||
| The Maori word "moana" also means "great expanse" or "vastness". | |||
| Samoan | sami | ||
| The word 'sami' may have origins in the Proto-Samoic language or may have borrowed from Tongan or another Polynesian language. | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | karagatan | ||
| The root word "dagat" in "karagatan" may refer specifically to the sea or ocean but can also refer to other large bodies of water like lakes. | |||
Ocean in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | lamar quta | ||
| Guarani | paraguasu | ||
Ocean in International Languages
| Esperanto | oceano | ||
| The Esperanto word "oceano" is derived from the Latin word "oceanus", which in turn comes from the Greek word "ὠκεανός" (ōkeanós), meaning "great river surrounding the world". | |||
| Latin | oceanum | ||
| Oceanum, from Greek Okeanos, was also the personification of the great, encircling river at the end of the known world. | |||
Ocean in Others Languages
| Greek | ωκεανός | ||
| The word may originally have meant a | |||
| Hmong | dej hiav txwv | ||
| Dej hiav txwv literally translates to "water that can never be filled," indicating the ocean's vastness and depth. | |||
| Kurdish | derya | ||
| The word "derya" in Kurdish, originally meaning "vast lake" or "wide river", was influenced by Arabic and Persian and gained the wider meaning of "ocean". | |||
| Turkish | okyanus | ||
| In Turkish, "okyanus" is also used to refer to a large body of water in general, regardless of whether it is an ocean or not. | |||
| Xhosa | ulwandle | ||
| The word 'ulwandle' in Xhosa is also synonymous with 'sea' or any large body of water. | |||
| Yiddish | אָקעאַן | ||
| The Yiddish word "אָקעאַן" (okean) ultimately derives from the Greek "ὠκεανός" (okeanos), meaning "great river that encircles the world". | |||
| Zulu | ulwandle | ||
| The word 'ulwandle' is a composite of 'ulu' (great) and 'wandle' (water), hence 'great water'. | |||
| Assamese | মহাসাগৰ | ||
| Aymara | lamar quta | ||
| Bhojpuri | सागर | ||
| Dhivehi | ކަނޑު | ||
| Dogri | समुंदर | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | karagatan | ||
| Guarani | paraguasu | ||
| Ilocano | taaw | ||
| Krio | si | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | ئۆقیانووس | ||
| Maithili | समुन्दर | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯑꯄꯥꯛꯄ ꯁꯃꯨꯗ꯭ꯔ | ||
| Mizo | tuipui | ||
| Oromo | garba | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ସମୁଦ୍ର | ||
| Quechua | mama qucha | ||
| Sanskrit | समुद्रं | ||
| Tatar | океан | ||
| Tigrinya | ባሕሪ | ||
| Tsonga | lwandle | ||