mare liberum

[mair-ee lib-er-uhm, mahr-ey, mah-re lee-be-room]

noun

1. a body of navigable water to which all nations have unrestricted access.

mare liberum

/ ˈmɑːreɪ ˈliːbərʊm /

noun

1. law a sea open to navigation by shipping of all nations Compare mare clausum

Word History and Origins

Origin of mare liberum¹

1645–55; < Latin: free sea

Word History and Origins

Origin of mare liberum¹

Latin: free sea

Example Sentences

Yet still his claim the injured ocean laid, And oft at leap-frog o’er their steeples played, As if on purpose it on land had come To show them what’s their mare liberum.

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Great Britain having bottled up the North Sea, a mare liberum must be established.

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Yet still his claim the injur’d ocean laid, And oft at leap-frog ore their steeples plaid: As if on purpose it on land had come To show them what’s their mare liberum.

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