a. [ad. F. thalassique (Brongniart, 1829), f. Gr. θάλασσα sea: see -IC.
1. Of or pertaining to the sea; growing or living in, or formed in or by the sea; marine. † In Geol. applied after Brongniart to strata supposed to be of marine formation (obs.).
1860. Mayne, Expos, Lex., Thalassicus, Geol., applied by Brongniart to the strata of superior sediment, i. e. those found from the surface of the earth to the limestone exclusively: thalassic.
1890. Cent. Dict., s.v. Littoral, Deposits … formed in deep water, or thalassic rocks.
1897. Mary Kingsley, W. Africa, 423. Agnes rouses me from my thalassic couch and suggests Mass at 5.30 a. m.
2. Pertaining to the (smaller or inland) seas as distinct from the pelagic waters or oceans.
1883. J. R. Seeley, Expans. Eng., 87 [see POTAMIC]. Ibid. European civilization passed from the thalassic to the oceanic state.
1884. Q. Rev., July, 140. He [Lord Dufferin] seems to have grasped the ‘oceanic’ rather than the ‘thalassic’ nature of our Empire.
1899. Times, 9 Jan., 6. The thalassic civilization of the Mediterranean.
So † Thalassical a. Obs. rare–1. (see quot.).
1656. Blount, Glossogr., Thalassical, of a blew colour like the sea-waves, sea-green or blew.
