freedom of the seas
- noun
- Formal
:
libertad de los mares
- Since Hugo Grotius published Mare Liberum in 1609, freedom of the seas has reigned supreme, both supporting the interests of the major maritime powers and being enforced by them.
- the freedom of the seas concept
Examples
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"The community of nations recognizes the fundamental right of freedom of the seas..."
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More than a decade of half-measures and hand-wringing on the part of the international community has done little to improve the lot of Somalia or ensure the freedom of the seas in its environs.
Academic text (2011) -
Early Roman law supported the freedom of the seas and the concept of common ownership of ocean resources.
Academic text (1993) -
Perhaps the time has come for the United States to lead the way to a new understanding of Grotius' freedom of the seas.
Academic text (1993) -
Our Navy's role in maintaining freedom of the seas and free trade is no less important in the 21st century.
Blog text (12) -
The dominant principle governing the use of the seas for most of the past 400 years has been the "freedom of the seas."
Academic text (2005) -
The Dutch, furthermore, commissioned Grotius to publish his great work on freedom of the seas to protect their own trade empire.
Academic text (2016) -
In regard to international commons, the United States, like nineteenth-century Britain, has an interest in freedom of the seas, but also in the environment, in the preservation of endangered species, and in the uses of outer space and of the new cyberspace.
Academic text (1999) -
Other goals, such as safeguarding freedom of the seas and achieving a peaceful resolution of competing territorial and sovereignty claims (particularly in the South China Sea), also remain important for mutual security in the area.
Academic text (2001) -
The principle of freedom of the seas allows merchant ships to navigate international waters without obstruction from any nation.
Antonyms
- Specialized
6
4.9
The area of sea near a country's coast that the country controls
How Free
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is compositionally built from 'freedom' and 'seas', so a B1 learner who knows the words would likely infer a general idea that the seas are free or that movement on the seas is unrestricted. However, the specific legal/political meaning (the formal right of merchant ships to travel unfettered in international waters) is a specialized nuance not fully predictable from the constituents alone, so the expression is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Freedom of the seas comes from the image of the ocean as a public road that any ship can use. One popular idea is that sailors and traders wanted the sea to stay open to everyone, so the phrase means the 'right' of trade ships to sail freely beyond a country's coast.