noun
the blue sea; blue waters
Formal or literary term for the vast blue ocean; often used in poetic or elevated contexts.
滄海の一粟に過ぎない。
It is no more than a drop in the vast blue sea.
詩人は滄海を詠んだ。
The poet sang of the blue sea.
Sino-Japanese compound from 滄 (blue, vast water) and 海 (sea). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the spelling is conventionally associated with the deep blue ocean.