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Glite Dictionary
🌊 A Pacific sea ⚔️ A WWII battle
Bismarck Sea

Bismarck Sea

5.8
A part of the Pacific Ocean north of Papua New Guinea
  • proper noun
translation icon : mar de Bismarck
  • Fishermen from Papua New Guinea rely on the rich marine life of the Bismarck Sea.

Examples

  • Several rivers from New Britain island flow into the Bismarck Sea.

  • The Bismarck Sea is known for its rich marine biodiversity.

  • The Bismarck Sea is known for the important World War II battle fought in its waters.

  • Have you ever been to the Bismarck Sea?

  • Fishermen from Papua New Guinea rely on the rich marine life of the Bismarck Sea.

  • Several rivers from New Britain island flow into the Bismarck Sea.

  • The Bismarck Sea is known for its rich marine biodiversity.

Surface Forms

Bismarck Sea main

Morphology

Bismarck + sea

The item combines the proper name 'Bismarck' (not semantically transparent to learners) with 'sea' (a body of water), so a learner might infer a geographic sea named Bismarck but would not be able to derive that the MWE denotes a specific WWII naval battle. The event meaning (a historical battle) is not predictable from the constituent words, making it idiomatic/opaque for learners.

Etymology

Bismarck Sea gets its name from the nearby Bismarck Archipelago, a group of islands that German explorers named after the leader 'Otto von Bismarck'. That is why the name refers to the part of the Pacific north of Papua New Guinea.