Today's Word "Thalassic"
Pertaining to the sea
on
Published in Vocabulary
thalassic \theh-LAE-sik\ (adjective) - Pertaining to the sea; marine.
"We can dream thalassic dreams until the occasion for a thalassic respite from work presents itself."
The adjective "thalassic" goes back to Greek thalassa "sea." It was made memorable by Xenophon in his "Anabasis" as the cry of the Greek mercenaries recruited by Cyrus the Younger to fight in Persia. Upon return to their homeland, when they first saw the Black Sea that would lead them to Greece, they shouted, "Thalassa, thalassa." This is a euphonic onomatopoeic alternative to "marine." The liquid [l] and hissing [s] give the word more semblance of sea sounds than does "marine."
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