open sea; rough sea
Refers to a broad, often rough stretch of open sea. Commonly appears in place names and literary contexts.
船は灘に出ると大きく揺れ始めた。
The ship began to pitch heavily once it reached the open sea.
玄界灘は冬になると波が荒いことで知られている。
The Genkai Sea is known for its rough waves in winter.
荒海 is the everyday word for a stormy, rough sea, while 灘 carries a more literary or geographic (often place-name) flavor for the same kind of open, rough water.
内海 is an enclosed sea surrounded by land, the opposite of 灘, which denotes a broad, exposed open sea.
灘 and 難 look almost identical in kanji form, but 灘 means an open or rough sea while 難 means difficulty or hardship.
Standard kanji spelling; high-frequency news usage.
Rare variant kanji; not commonly used for this word.
The historical derivation is uncertain; the kanji 灘 is conventionally associated with rough open sea.