Bride of the Sea
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Venice ; so called from the ancient ceremony of the wedding of the sea by the Doge, who threw a ring into the Adriatic, saying, "We wed thee, O sea, in token of perpetual domination.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Bride of the Sea” mean?
Venice ; so called from the ancient ceremony of the wedding of the sea by the Doge, who threw a ring into the Adriatic, saying, "We wed thee, O sea, in token of perpetual domination.
Is “Bride of the Sea” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.