Tethys

American  

[tee-this] / ˈti θɪs /

noun

1. Classical Mythology. a Titan, a daughter of Uranus and Gaia, the wife of Oceanus and mother of the Oceanids and river gods.

2. Astronomy. one of the moons of Saturn.

3. Geology. the Mesozoic ocean or seaway of which the Mediterranean Sea is a greatly shrunken remnant.

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Tethys ¹ British  

/ ˈtiːθɪs, ˈtɛθ- /

noun

1. Greek myth a Titaness and sea goddess, wife of Oceanus

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Tethys ² British  

/ ˈtiːθɪs, ˈtɛθ- /

noun

1. a large satellite of the planet Saturn

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Tethys ³ British  

/ ˈtɛθ-, ˈtiːθɪs /

noun

1. the sea that lay between Laurasia and Gondwanaland, the two supercontinents formed by the first split of the larger supercontinent Pangaea. The Tethys Sea can be regarded as the predecessor of today's smaller Mediterranean See also Pangaea

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Etymology

Origin of Tethys

From Latin Tēthys, from Greek Tēthýs; further origin uncertain; Tethys def. 1 was first recorded in 1700–10; Tethys def. 2 in 1845–50; and Tethys def. 3 in 1890–95

Example Sentences

"Instead, the dynamics of the distant Tethys Ocean can directly be correlated with short-lived periods of mountain building in Central Asia."

From Science Daily • May 18, 2026

But in the Mesozoic Era, it was a tropical shoreline along the Tethys Ocean, inhabited by dinosaurs and marine creatures.

From New York Times • Aug. 19, 2023

As the planet's tectonic plates shifted over molten rock 140 million years ago, and as India's land mass collided with the Asian continent, a previously-existing ancient ocean known as Tethys could have disappeared.

From Salon • Jul. 26, 2023

Protathlitis roamed a coastal region along the Tethys Sea, an ocean whose remnants include the Mediterranean Sea.

From Reuters • May 18, 2023

The sea-gods received him kindly and called on Ocean and Tethys to purge his mortal nature away and make him one of them.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton