seafire
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 1.20 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
1
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Light which sometimes occurs (caused by the bioluminescence or biophosphorescence of certain organisms) and is visible in seawater on dark nights, typically a pale blue or green colour.
Example Sentences
- "And when the moon goes down, lo, a wonder on the sea: the waves beat in flame upon the shore; it is fringed with phosphorescence of shifting hue, like acres of electric light. And that is […] that strange seafire we know as little as they who imagined a lake of fire and brimstone."
- "Bright seafire runs about a plunging keel / On vehement nights : and where black danger lies, / Gleam the torn breakers. / But all days reveal / Drear dooms for me, nor any nights disguise / Their menace: […]"
- "Then it shallowed to two and the oars churned up seafire all about us."
- "Vaiki hit with a resounding splash amid a burst of seafire that was rising and breaking in luminous stars all over the anchorage. […] the next incoming wave. It crest was charged with the same flaming sea-stars, so that a greenish flame was reflected in the stream of the backwash."
Etymology
Etymology tree English sea Proto-Indo-European *péh₂wr̥ Proto-Germanic *fōr Proto-West Germanic *fuir Old English fȳr Middle English fyr English fire English seafire From sea + fire. Compare Shetland mareel from Old Norse marr (“sea”) + eldr (“fire”), and marfire.