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Preserved but no longer current.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.
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.