World Ocean

American  

[wurld oh-shuhn] / ˈwɜrld ˈoʊ ʃən /

Or world ocean

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.

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Etymology

Origin of World Ocean

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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

World Ocean

Bleaching events since 2018 have caused widespread coral mortality, with the United Nations' World Ocean Assessment warning that 90 percent of reefs could disappear if global warming tops 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026

The song is set to be performed for the first time in Margate on 22 May before the song is released online on 8 June to coincide with World Ocean Day.

From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2026

SAT-SUN World Ocean Weekend activities, 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m.

From Seattle Times ● May 29, 2019

They began with 52 million data points in the World Ocean Atlas maintained by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

From Nature ● Jan. 2, 2017

For “excellence in media”, it cites our reporting on marine issues and our annual World Ocean Summits, which we have run since 2012.

From Economist ● Mar. 5, 2015

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