Red Sea

noun

1. an arm of the Indian Ocean, extending northwest between Africa and Arabia: connected to the Mediterranean by the Suez Canal. 1,450 miles (2,335 kilometers) long; 170,000 square miles (440,300 square kilometers); greatest depth, 7,254 feet (2,211 meters).

Red Sea

noun

1. a long narrow sea between Arabia and NE Africa, linked with the Mediterranean in the north by the Suez Canal and with the Indian Ocean in the south: occasionally reddish in appearance through algae. Area: 438 000 sq km (169 000 sq miles)

Red Sea

1. Narrow sea between Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.

According to the Bible (see also Bible), the Red Sea's waters parted to allow the Israelites, led by Moses, to escape the pursuing Egyptian army. The “Red Sea” of the biblical account, however, seems more likely to have been the marshy Sea of Reeds than the present-day Red Sea.

Probably named for the red algae that are sometimes present in its waters.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Red Sea¹

Translation of Latin Mare Rubrum, from Greek Erythrà Thálassa “Red Sea,” a translation of Hebrew Yam Sūph “Sea of Reeds.” The reason for Erythrà (Thálassa) is unknown; perhaps Erythrà refers to seasonal blooms of red algae on the on the surface of the water, or to ancient associations of “red” with “south,” (as “black” with “north,” as in “Black Sea”)

Example Sentences

The swathes of fertile farmland in Sudan, Africa's third-largest country and a potential agricultural breadbasket, have whetted the appetite of the desert Gulf countries across the Red Sea.

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The two countries are just minutes apart if Saudi jets are based near the Israeli city of Eilat, a port town on the Red Sea.

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The rebels have frequently launched attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea.

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The Houthis, an Iran-backed Yemeni militia, has attacked dozens of commercial ships around the Red Sea in the wake of the war in Gaza.

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Maersk still assumes that disruption in the Red Sea will continue throughout the rest of the year.

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