English · Idiom Historical

Pacific Ocean

Preserved but no longer current.

Meaning · English

So named by Magellan in 1520, because there he enjoyed calm weather and a placid sea after the stormy and tempestuous passage of the adjoining straits.

Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)

Examples

The Titanic didn't sink in the Pacific Ocean.Con tàu Titanic không chìm ở Thái Bình Dương.

Tatoeba sentence #13724686 (CC BY 2.0 FR, tatoeba.org, retrieved 2026-07-31)

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.

Topics: Sea & boats Historical slang (1800s)

Common questions

What does “Pacific Ocean” mean?

So named by Magellan in 1520, because there he enjoyed calm weather and a placid sea after the stormy and tempestuous passage of the adjoining straits.

Is “Pacific Ocean” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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