South Sea
1
6.3
- noun
- Archaic
:
Mar del Sur
- Many explorers journeyed to the South Sea in search of new lands and adventures.
Because people are sending us videos from South Sea islands and from Sakhalin, north of Russia, and from the South Pole and the North Pole.
- Because people are sending us videos from South Sea islands and from Sakhalin, north of Russia, and from the South Pole and the North Pole.
- But we also had incredible boom and bust periods around the South Sea.
Examples
-
The romantic young poet would have to cross the Pacific to the South Sea islands before discovering, at least in his own mind, the Rousseauesque paradise that he was searching for.
Academic text (2013) -
So the Grand Canyon was "south" because the Spaniards recognized that the Rio Tizon (Colorado) flowed into the South Sea.
Academic text (1993) -
He bought a South Sea island.
-
Balboa knows that from this peak he will be able to see the western water, which he has already decided to name the South Sea.
Academic text (2007) -
But that was way off in the South Seas, on the way to the penal colonies in Australia.
Fiction book (2000) -
Maybe he was beginning to understand that no matter how many glorious South Sea pearls he hoarded, he was still the same man.
Fiction book (2000) -
They have no more interest in claiming the South Sea than they do in rowing off to Europe in their dugout canoes and claiming Spain.
Academic text (2007) -
He does not know that his days are numbered, that even after he returns to Darien with his knowledge of the South Sea, even after he has ceded the governorship to Pedrarias Avila, and even after he has married Avila's daughter, that he has not bought his safety.
Academic text (2007) -
The tales of treasure and adventure in the South Sea captivated the sailors of the age.
-
In literature, the South Sea often symbolizes the unknown and exotic destinations.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
A large area of salt water partly enclosed by land
14
3.0
A part of the Pacific Ocean south of the equator with many islands
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'south' (southern location) + 'sea' (body of saltwater) yields a sea located to the south, so a B1 learner knowing both words can infer the sense (often the South Pacific). Although it can function as a historical or literary proper name, that usage does not make the basic meaning unpredictable. This follows common cross-linguistic place-naming patterns, supporting full transparency.
Etymology
South Sea comes from early explorers who, when they first saw the large ocean to the south, called it 'Mar del Sur', which is literally South Sea. That's why South Sea now means any sea 'south of the equator', especially the South Pacific, and often brings images of distant islands and adventure.