Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

ocean

/ˈoʊ.ʃən/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.70 in modern English

Syllables
o-cean
IPA
/ˈoʊ.ʃən/
7
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

One of the large bodies of water separating the continents.

Countable

noun

Water belonging to an ocean.

Uncountable

noun

An immense expanse; any vast space or quantity without apparent limits.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

A blue colour, like that of the ocean (also called ocean blue).

Countable; Uncountable

name

A female given name from English, of modern usage.

name

A township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, which originally extended to the ocean.

name

A township in Ocean County, New Jersey.

name

The deity Oceanus.

Example Sentences

Etymology

Etymology tree Ancient Greek Ὠκεᾰνός (Ōkeănós)der. Latin Ōceanusder. Old French occeanbor. Middle English *ocean, occean, occian, occyan English ocean 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). Displaced native Old English gārseċġ. Also commonly referred to as the ocean sea, the sea of ocean (compare Latin mare ōceanum; Old French mer oceane, occeanne mer). Compare Saterland Frisian Oceoan (“ocean”), West Frisian oseaan (“ocean”), Dutch oceaan (“ocean”), German Low German Ozeaan (“ocean”), German Ozean (“ocean”), Danish ocean (“ocean”), Swedish ocean (“ocean”), French océan (“ocean”), Italian oceano (“ocean”). Doublet of Oceanus/Okeanos.

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: *ocean, occean, ocean, Ōceanus, Ὠκεανός

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈoʊ.ʃən/
  • British English: /ˈəʊ.ʃən/

Usage

Inflected Forms

oceans (plural)

Derived Forms

hycean hyperoceanic interocean midocean nonocean oceanarium oceanaut oceanbed oceanfront oceanful oceangoing Oceania

Phrases

a drop in the ocean blue-ocean boil the ocean brown ocean effect calm blue ocean Canfield ocean drop in the ocean exo-ocean

Frequently Paired Words

lake sea

Synonyms

the ogin sea

Rhymes With

motion promotion emotion notion devotion lotion potion commotion locomotion demotion laotian kocian

Questions

How do you pronounce ocean?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈoʊ.ʃən/.
What does ocean mean?
One of the large bodies of water separating the continents.
Where does ocean come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce ocean

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