World Ocean

or world o·cean

[ wurld oh-shuhn ]

noun

1. the interconnected system of all the bodies of salt water that cover more than 70 percent of the earth’s surface:

   These statistical assessments of the World Ocean are of critical interest to oceanographers and climatologists everywhere.

Word History and Origins

Origin of World Ocean¹

Coined by Yuli Mikhailovich Shokalsky (1856–1940), Russian oceanographer and cartographer in Oceanography (1917)

Example Sentences

Perhaps she has been clear around; perhaps this is the only bit of land left above a world ocean.

From Project Gutenberg

The modern period has had the Atlantic, and the twentieth century is now entering upon the final epoch of the World Ocean.

From Project Gutenberg

It is only gradually that men reach the shore of the world-ocean.

From Project Gutenberg