thalassic

[ thuh-las-ik ]
See synonyms for thalassic on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. of or relating to seas and oceans.

  2. of or relating to smaller bodies of water, as seas and gulfs, as distinguished from large oceanic bodies.

  1. growing, living, or found in the sea; marine.

Origin of thalassic

1
First recorded in 1855–60; from Greek thálass(a) “sea” + -ic

Words Nearby thalassic

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use thalassic in a sentence

  • They make nitroglycerine, like all the thalassic peoples; they also make TNT and catastrophite, and propellants.

    Uller Uprising | Henry Beam Piper, John D. Clark and John F. Carr
  • The thalassic peoples here in the Equatorial Zone are fairly good empirical, teaspoon-measure, chemists.

    Uller Uprising | Henry Beam Piper, John D. Clark and John F. Carr
  • It progresses most rapidly where the knowledge of outlying or remote lands travels fastest, as along rivers and thalassic coasts.

    Influences of Geographic Environment | Ellen Churchill Semple
  • Africa was further cursed by the mockery of desert coasts along most of her scant thalassic shores.

    Influences of Geographic Environment | Ellen Churchill Semple
  • Small thalassic islands, at an early date in their history, lose their ethnic unity and present a highly mixed population.

    Influences of Geographic Environment | Ellen Churchill Semple

British Dictionary definitions for thalassic

thalassic

/ (θəˈlæsɪk) /


adjective
  1. of or relating to the sea

  2. of or relating to small or inland seas, as opposed to open waters

  1. inhabiting or growing in the sea; marine: thalassic fauna

Origin of thalassic

1
C19: from French thalassique, from Greek thalassa sea

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for thalassic

thalassic

[ thə-lăsĭk ]


  1. Relating to seas or oceans, especially smaller or inland seas.

  2. Relating to rocks formed from sediment that has been deposited on the ocean floor.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.