mare nostrum

American  

[mah-re nohs-troom, mair-ee nos-truhm, mahr-ey] / ˈmɑ rɛ ˈnoʊs trʊm, ˈmɛər i ˈnɒs trəm, ˈmɑr eɪ /

noun

Latin.

1. our sea, especially the Mediterranean to the ancient Romans.

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mare nostrum British  

/ ˈmɑːreɪ ˈnɒstrʊm /

noun

1. the Latin name for the Mediterranean

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Etymology

Origin of mare nostrum

literally: our sea

Example Sentences

The Mediterranean became a Roman lake,—mare nostrum, they said,—and the same life circulated on all its shores, called for the first and the last time to a common existence.

From Project Gutenberg

These signs of interest shown by the great traveler in the little mare nostrum, and especially in the details of its western bowl which he wished to know most minutely, pleased Ferragut greatly.

From Project Gutenberg

THE MEDITERRANEAN, your ideal blue sea: to Greeks simply "the sea," to Hebrews "the great sea," to Romans mare nostrum.*

From Project Gutenberg

He could call it "mare nostrum" just as the Romans and their former rulers had done.

From Project Gutenberg

Without this Atlantic current the mare nostrum, which lost through atmospheric evaporation much more water than the rains and rivers could bring to it, would become dry in a few centuries.

From Project Gutenberg