Meaning
ocean
- immensity, infinity
In a sentence
Abbiamo visto l'oceano per la prima volta ieri.
We saw the ocean for the first time yesterday.
Hai mai nuotato nell'oceano durante le vacanze?
Have you ever swum in the ocean during vacation?
L'oceano è molto grande e profondo.
The ocean is very large and deep.
Word forms (2)
| Word | Word forms |
|---|---|
| oceano | masculine · singular |
| oceani | masculine · plural |
Usage notes
- Use oceano for the major oceans; mare is the everyday word for a sea and is often used more loosely in speech.
- With article + proper name, Italian usually says l'oceano Atlantico, l'oceano Pacifico; don't omit the article in normal prose.
- For the figurative sense, it often appears in phrases like un oceano di + noun; this sounds natural in both speech and writing.