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.

Notes

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

Migrations out of Africa, he says, now appear more likely to have wended through northern Arabia rather than across a narrow Red Sea crossing to southern Arabia, often regarded as a major dispersal route for ancient humans.

From Science News

So acute is the kingdom’s dependence on desalinated water, which accounts for roughly half of its requirements, that in 2018, the state-run Saudi Saline Water Conversion Corporation commissioned nine new plants along the Red Sea coast.

From Time

Expecting to witness the same heartbreaking bleaching patterns that had turned other reefs into lifeless undersea boneyards, Fine was struck by the fact the northern Red Sea corals remained as vibrant as he remembered.

From Time

In the summer, Red Sea currents would drag an oil slick south, threatening Eritrea and Djibouti, and potentially entering the Gulf of Aden.

From Time

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled in secret Sunday to the city of Neom on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast for a meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Israeli sources told me.

From Axios

When it came to shooting the famous parting of the Red Sea, Ridley Scott elected to show a tsunami splitting the waters.

From The Daily Beast

The Negev desert—Al-Naqab in Arabic—stretches across southern Israel down to Eilat and the Red Sea.

From The Daily Beast

Griffith was elected to a North Alabama district in 2008 that had long been a Democratic redoubt in the midst of a deep red sea.

From The Daily Beast

But then again, Jews complained about the food within a week of the parting of the Red Sea.

From The Daily Beast

How a daring 2011 capture operation on the Red Sea created a template for what to do with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

From The Daily Beast

Remember in what manner our fathers were saved in the Red Sea, when Pharaoh pursued them with a great army.

From Project Gutenberg

This part of the Red Sea is considered to be the hottest portion of the earth's surface.

From Project Gutenberg

We were going through the Red Sea, when suddenly a violent storm broke upon us.

From Project Gutenberg

Here he appears as Moses, and the Red Sea has been dried up to permit the passage of himself and his people.

From Project Gutenberg

He made but one fierce and rapid irruption into the neighborhood of the "red sea," and returned sick and shuddering therefrom.

From Project Gutenberg