English
ocean
Ocean comes from Old French occean, from Latin Ōceanus, from Greek Ὠκεανός ‘oceanus’, the world-encircling river, of uncertain origin.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὨκεανός1Ōkeănós‘Oceanus; the world-encircling river’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEŌceanus1‘ocean’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400occean1
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500occean2
- Englishearliest quotation 1849ocean2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Middle English occean
- 2 Wiktionary, English ocean
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1849, – 1850 November, Charles Dickens: “On the present occasion, Traddles was so hemmed in…”.
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὨκεανόςWiktionary, Middle English occeanŌkeănós‘Oceanus; the world-encircling river’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEŌceanusWiktionary, Middle English occean‘ocean’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400occeanWiktionary, Middle English occean
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500occeanWiktionary, English ocean
- Englishearliest quotation 1849oceanWiktionary, English ocean. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1849, – 1850 November, Charles Dickens: “On the present occasion, Traddles was so hemmed in…”
The story
From Middle English *ocean, occean, occian, occyan, from Old French occean (later reborrowed or reinforced by Middle French ocean), from Latin Ōceanus, originally from Ancient Greek Ὠκεανός (Ōkeanós, “Oceanus”, a water deity). Also commonly referred to as the ocean sea, the sea of ocean (compare Latin mare ōceanum; Old French mer oceane, occeanne mer).
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Today it means
noun One of the large bodies of water separating the continents.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “ocean”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Middle English occean. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek Ὠκεανός / ocean