Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

black sea

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: 4.91 in modern English

Syllables
black- sea
IPA
16
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars

Meaning

name

An inland sea bound by Southeastern Europe in the west, Eastern Europe in the north and northeast, and Turkey in the south.

name

Alternative letter-case form of Black Sea.

Etymology

Calque of Ottoman Turkish قره دكز (Kara Deñiz, “Black Sea”) (modern Turkish Karadeniz) (from kara (“black, dark; north”) + deniz (“sea”)). Compare Russian Чёрное мо́ре (Čórnoje móre). The Turkish word is derived from the languages of the Near East, which is ultimately from an Old Iranian name: the primary Ancient Greek name Πόντος Ἄξεινος (Póntos Áxeinos) (first attested in 462 BC) is a rendering of Old Iranian *axšainah (“dark-colored”). The naming is according to the system in which color names indicated the cardinal points (black [or dark] for north, red for south, white for west, and green or light blue for east); compare Red Sea. It is supposedly named as such by the Achaemenids; see Iranica for details.

Inflected Forms

the Black Sea (canonical)

Phrases

Black Sea bottlenose dolphin Red Sea White Sea Yellow Sea

Frequently Paired Words

Euxinian Red Sea White Sea Yellow Sea

Questions

What does black sea mean?
An inland sea bound by Southeastern Europe in the west, Eastern Europe in the north and northeast, and Turkey in the south.
Where does black sea come from?
Calque of Ottoman Turkish قره دكز (Kara Deñiz, “Black Sea”) (modern Turkish Karadeniz) (from kara (“black, dark; north”) + deniz (“sea”)). Compare Russian Чёрное мо́ре (Čórnoje móre). The Turkish word is derived from the languages of the Near East, which is ultimately from an Old Iranian name: the primary Ancient Greek name Πόντος Ἄξεινος (Póntos Áxeinos) (first attested in 462 BC) is a rendering of Old Iranian *axšainah (“dark-colored”). The naming is according to the system in which color names indicated the cardinal points (black [or dark] for north, red for south, white for west, and green or light blue for east); compare Red Sea. It is supposedly named as such by the Achaemenids; see Iranica for details.

How to pronounce black sea

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “black sea”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “black sea”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “black sea” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.