Euxine Sea
- proper noun
- Archaic
:
Mar Negro
- The Euxine Sea forms a natural boundary between Europe and Asia Minor.
Examples
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In ancient texts, the Euxine Sea is frequently mentioned as a route for Greek colonies.
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During their travels, they sailed along the northern coast of the Euxine Sea.
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The Euxine Sea is beautiful.
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What is the Euxine Sea known for?
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In ancient texts, the Euxine Sea is frequently mentioned as a route for Greek colonies.
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During their travels, they sailed along the northern coast of the Euxine Sea.
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The Euxine Sea forms a natural boundary between Europe and Asia Minor.
Synonyms
9
3.3
A sea between southeastern Europe and western Asia that borders countries like Turkey and Ukraine
Surface Forms
Morphology
Euxine + sea
The word 'sea' clearly marks this as a body of water, so a learner who knows the constituents would infer it is a named sea, but 'Euxine' is an archaic/proper name with no transparent lexical meaning (its identification as the Black Sea is lexical/historical knowledge). Because the category is transparent but the specific referent is not derivable from the parts, the expression is only partially transparent to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Euxine Sea is an old name for the Black Sea; one popular story says Greek sailors first called it 'inhospitable' because of strong storms and dangerous coasts, but later the name was changed to sound like 'hospitable' when people began to settle along its shores, which is why the old name refers to the same sea we call the Black Sea today.