Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun geography The prehistoric ocean surrounding Pangaea.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Ancient Greek παν (pan, "all") + Ancient Greek θάλασσα (thalassa, "sea")

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word Panthalassa.

Examples

  • The ancient ocean called Panthalassa became the ancestor of which ocean?

    The Hindu - Front Page 2010

  • Earth was covered by a single ocean known as Panthalassa with a smaller ocean to the east called Tethys.

    CreationWiki - Recent changes [en] 2009

  • The old songs here are better produced than before, and work much more effectively in this album format, especially 'Panthalassa' which serves as the epic opener here.

    The Line Of Best Fit 2009

  • "Panthalassa," surely the heaviest bolero fanfare ever recorded.

    MetalSucks 2009

  • Not some deity of the ocean, some anthropomorphic thing that resides in the sea, but the whole of the sea itself (Panthalassa).

    Of Books and the Sea greygirlbeast 2010

  • We sat and listened to all the sounds of Panthalassa, smelling all the smells.

    "If looks could kill, they probably will..." greygirlbeast 2009

  • This is still pretty much where my head is, though I've added Panthalassa ( "all seas") as my primary "deity."

    Something Cool thingunderthest 2009

  • Not some deity of the ocean, some anthropomorphic thing that resides in the sea, but the whole of the sea itself (Panthalassa).

    Of Books and the Sea greygirlbeast 2010

  • Which is to say, I may look to and venerate the Mórrígan, and Hecate, and Demeter, and Cernunnos (and a small host of others), but the concept of Panthalassa acts as a sort of godhead, freed of any connotations of gender or consciousness, morality or anthropomorphic form.

    Something Cool thingunderthest 2009

  • I have seen few finer places to stand in the presence of Panthalassa than Cape Cod.

    A vagina is not a clown car. sovay 2008

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • also known as the Panthalassic Ocean, was the vast global ocean that surrounded the supercontinent Pangaea, during the late Paleozoic and the early Mesozoic years. It included the Pacific Ocean to the west and north and the Tethys Ocean to the southeast. It became the Pacific Ocean, following the closing of the Tethys basin and the breakup of Pangaea, which created the Atlantic, Arctic, and Indian Ocean basins.

    October 14, 2011