α. see sea n. and side n.1
β. Middle English seis side, Middle English seyssyde, 1500s seas syde, 1500s sees syde, 1900s sea's side.
seasiden.
/ˈsiːsʌɪd/, U.S. /ˈsiˌsaɪd/ 1. † b. In plural in the same sense. Obsolete.
a. The edge of, or the area of land adjacent to, the sea; the point or zone where the sea meets the land. Chiefly with prepositions, as by, at, to, †on, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > land mass > shore or bank > seashore or coast > [noun]
sea-warthc888
sea-rimOE
sea-strandc1000
sandc1275
rive1296
bankc1350
sea-banka1375
sea-coasta1400
coastc1400
warthc1450
ripec1475
landsidec1515
seashore1526
banksidec1540
brinish brink1594
shorea1616
ore1652
outland1698
sea beach1742
table-shore1849
playa1898
treaty coast1899
treaty shore1901
beach1903
the world > the earth > land > land mass > shore or bank > seashore or coast > [noun] > coast line
seasidec1275
the sea's sidea1400
seasides1532
shoreside1571
sea-linea1687
seaboard1788
waterline1789
shoreline1811
sea-edge1820
coast-line1861
ocean line1870
ria coast1899
rias coast1899
α.
β. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Coll. Phys.) l. 21049 Grauel bi þe seis side.1530 Bible (Tyndale) Deut. i. f. i Vnto the sees syde in the londe of Canaan.1543 R. Grafton Contin. in Chron. J. Hardyng f. xcix Those that dwel by the seas syde.1633 T. James Strange Voy. 59 I chose the most warmest and conuenientest place [to build a house]... It was amongst a tuft of thicke trees, vnder a South banke; about a flight-shot from the Seas side.1675 T. Hobbes tr. Homer Odysses xv. 188 There then was in my Fathers house a Maid..that well could sow and spin; As washing Clothes she at the Seas-side staid One of these Merchants sooth'd her into sin.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 12807 Bi þere sæ-side [c1300 Otho see-syde]. þet lond he weste wide.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Heb. xi. 12 Men ben borun as sterris of heuen in multitude, and as grauel, or soond, that is at see side vnnoumbrable.
c1480 (a1400) St. Andrew 25 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 63 Þane þe angel can hym say, þat he to þe sey-syd suld fare.
1512 Act 4 Hen. VIII c. 1 §2 All the inhabitantes..to bee at the See side with such instrumentes as they have.
1619 in W. Foster Eng. Factories India 1618–21 (1906) 71 Promising the 12th following to meete and confer with Captain Bonner upon the shoare neere the sea syde.
1726 G. Shelvocke Voy. round World ii. 55 Among the rocks by the sea-side you find what is commonly call'd the sea-egg.
1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian xiii, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. IV. 271 Jeanie..had walked down to the sea-side.
1890 H. C. Field Ferns of N.Z. 116 The next group is known as the Asplenium marinum group, after an English fern so called from its growing on rocks, and in caves by the sea-side.
1971 Wee Wisdom Feb. 14 A farmer heard that salt was cheaper at the sea side. So he took his donkey and walked to the sea side.
1994 B. Gilroy Sunlight on Sweet Water 121 The monkey-apples and cashews growing wild by the seaside were ripe enough to ‘knock’.
Π
c1300 St. Clement (Laud) l. 544 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 339 Mani fair Miracle seint clement dude bi þe sees sides.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 349 Þis [emended in ed. to þre] breþeren..out of Norway..woned by þe see sides by assent of Irische men þat were alwey idel as Poules knyȝtes.
1532 (c1385) Usk's Test. Loue in Wks. G. Chaucer iii. f. ccclv On the see sydes in the more Britayne..the best [sc. pearls] ben engendred.
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique ii. xlix. 315 Rosemarie..groweth in any aire, but best by the sea sides.
1710 J. Harris Lexicon Technicum II. at Insects There are two kinds of them [sc. Insects with twenty four Feet] observ'd..one larger, and of an obscure Colour, among the Rocks by the Sea-sides.
2. The side (of something) that faces or lies towards the sea. Frequently with of.
ΘΠ
the world > space > relative position > quality of having sides or being a side > [noun] > fact of having distinct sides > one or other side or hand > side facing specific direction > side facing the sea or water
waterside1795
seaside1867
?1574 W. Bourne Regiment for Sea iii. f. 13v It [sc. the tide] floweth on the Sea side of the Iland.
1703 M. Martin Descr. W. Islands Scotl. 74 Iron which is on the Sea side of a House grows sooner rusty than which is on the Land side.
1795 Kentish Reg. Dec. 465/1 The vineyards and cultivated lands were here much more ruined..than those I have already described on the sea side of the volcano.
1801 Morning Post 7 May Admiral Keith proposes to bombard the city [of Alexandria] on the sea side, while General Abercrombie attacks it by land.
1869 H. F. Tozer Res. Highlands of Turkey I. 317 On the sea-side of it rose the Mount Rumia.
1979 Bull. Yorks. Dial. Soc. Summer 7 We would find eggs on the sand at the sea side of the Point laid by a bird we called a sand runner.
2015 Port Lincoln (Austral.) Times (Nexis) 14 Apr. 4 The upgrade will include a paved footpath on the sea side of the street.
3. The seaside (sense 1a) as a place to stay or visit for the benefit of one's health or (chiefly in later use) as a destination for a holiday or excursion. Chiefly with the.
ΘΠ
the world > the earth > land > land mass > shore or bank > land near coast > [noun] > as resort
seaside1782
Riviera1865
beachfront1921
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > holiday-making or tourism > [noun] > resort > beach or seaside resort
Lido1673
front1766
seaside1782
sea-bath1785
plage1888
Gold Coast1919
1670 C. Huygens De Gedichten VII. (1897) 295 Towards the Sea-side ev'rie daij Our People followeth this new waij.
a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1672 (1955) III. 624 After which I returned home, in order to another Excursion to the sea side.
1782 W. Cowper Lett. (1981) II. 77 Mr. Bull..is gone to the sea-side with Mrs. Wilberforce, and will be absent six weeks.
1831 A. F. Kendall Picture Eng. & Wales I. 100 First the nobility and gentry, then the wealthy citizen, and afterwards the tradesman and his family, repaired to the sea-side.
1859 A. Helps Friends in Council New Ser. I. i. 60 A family in the middle class of life going to the seaside.
1899 Liverpool Mercury 16 June 8/3 Those who had looked forward to Whitsuntide with the hope of spending a long week-end in the country or at the seaside.
1955 Times 2 Aug. 6/5 Motorists living in the Greater London area were on the roads early in the morning bound for the seaside or the country.
2018 Wildlife Spring 21/1 If you feel like a change of scenery, we highly recommend a trip to the seaside—you could make a sandcastle, splash in the waves, count the different species you see.
Compounds
C1. As a modifier, forming nouns with the sense ‘situated at, taking place at, or belonging to the seaside’, as in seaside café, seaside holiday, seaside resort, etc.
Π
1781 W. Cowper Let. 26 Sept. (1979) I. 522 The modern passion for sea-side entertainments.
1785 W. Cowper Task vi. 245 As countless as the sea-side sands.
1810 G. Crabbe Borough ix. 119 We amuse Ourselves..with Sea-side Walks and Views.
1861 J. W. Carlyle Lett. III. 86 Ramsgate, one of the most accessible sea-side places.
1879 Harper's Mag. July 163 Nowhere else in all sea-side resorts will he be likely to get so much..elbow-room.
1939 F. Thompson Lark Rise ii. 36 Children..went to parties and for sea-side holidays.
1967 N. Freeling Strike Out 39 A messy, ugly building..that..had climbed beyond modest seaside-café beginnings.
1973 ‘B. Mather’ Snowline xix. 228 Looking like a seaside landlady who has just caught her daughter in bed with the star lodger.
1976 P. R. White Planning for Public Transport vii. 141 The traditional seaside excursion demand has fallen, most weekend leisure trips now being made by car.
2003 New Yorker 10 Nov. 115/2 This was my bedroom on the second floor of a run-down apartment building in a seaside town.
2014 BBC Gardeners' World (Special Subscriber ed.) Nov. 43/1 Once you'd seen the patios and pots at seaside villas in Spain, you copied the idea back home.
C2.
a. In the names of plants and animals which are typically associated with coastal habitats. See also Compounds 2b.seaside grape, seaside mahoe: see the second element.Recorded earliest in seaside grape at grape n.1 3b.
Π
1693 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 17 618 A single Instance hereof..you have in the Uvifera litorea, &c. from America, or the Sea-side Grape, by those of Barbados,..which although by many esteem'd as a new Plant, is really no other than the Raisinier of Mons. Rochfort, or Ouliem of the Charibbeans Histoire des Antilles.
1731 Philos. Trans. 1729–30 (Royal Soc.) 36 429 Gramen Myloicophoron Oxyphyllon Carolinianum... The Sea-side Oat.
1756 P. Browne Civil & Nat. Hist. Jamaica ii. ii. 347 Croton 2... The small Sea-side Balsam... Croton 4... The Sea-side Balsam.
1848 Hogg's Weekly Instructor New Ser. 1 415/1 If you go to the marsh lands you will most likely find..the Seaside Convolvulus, with its rose-coloured bells.
1863 M. Plues Rambles in Search of Wild Flowers 245 The Seaside Knotgrass (P[ersicaria] maritima), closely resembles the common species; its even glossy seeds are its mark of distinction.
1950 Proc. Entomol. Soc. Brit. Columbia 46 15/2 Two female seaside earwigs have hatched their ova under my observation.
1968 J. Hay Sandy Shore iii. 14 Others, like seaside goldenrod, may have fleshy leaves with a waxy coating which helps retain moisture.
2012 Landscape Archit. Mag. May 113/1 The terrain is rocky yet surprisingly luxuriant, with New England blazing star (Liatris borealis), seaside knotweed (Polygonum glaucum), and the endangered species sandplain false foxglove (Agalinis acuta).
b.
seaside alder n. a shrub or small tree, Alnus maritima (family Betulaceae), which typically grows in moist to wet soils beside ponds and streams and is found in parts of the southern and eastern United States.
Π
1785 H. Marshall Arbustrum Americanum 20 Betula-Alnus maritima. Sea-side Alder.
1884 C. S. Sargent Rep. Forests N. Amer. 162 Alnus maritima. Seaside Alder... A small tree, 6 to 7 meters in height, with a trunk 0.10 to 0.15 meter in diameter.
2002 Nature Conservancy Spring 63/2 Its proportions alone—not to mention its rare plants, such as the seaside alder—make it [sc. the Nanticoke River watershed] stand out as one of the most ecologically significant watershed basins in the Mid-Atlantic.
seaside beech n. now rare the princewood Exostema caribaeum, native to the Caribbean, Florida, Mexico, and Central America.
Π
1777 W. Wright in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 67 504 The Sea-side Beech..rises only to twenty feet.
1858 R. Hogg Veg. Kingdom 409 Exostemma caribœum, called in Jamaica Sea-side Beech, furnishes a bark, called Caribœan Bark.
1952 J. F. Morton & R. B. Ledin 400 Plants S. Florida 58 Exostema caribaeum..Princewood; Caribbee Bark Tree; Jamaica Bark; Seaside Beech—Native to S. Florida, Bahamas and elsewhere in the West Indies, Central and northern South America. Shrub or tree.
seaside daisy n. †(a) thrift, Armeria maritima (obsolete rare); (b) a perennial herb native to the Pacific coast of North America and now cultivated as a garden plant, Erigeron glaucus (family Asteraceae), having a hairy glandular stem, arising from a basal rosette of leaves, and solitary purple flowers.
Π
1829 Prize-ess. & Trans. Highland Soc. Scotl. 7 122 Statice Armeria, Seaside daisy, thrift.
1901 W. L. Jepson Flora Western Middle Calif. 568 E[rigeron] glaucus Ker. Seaside Daisy... Common on cliffs or sandy shores, near the sea only.
2020 CRCuthbert 28 May in twitter.com (accessed 16 May 2022) Seaside daisies (Erigeron glaucus) flowering en masse and looking good in the warm sunshine at Southwold, Suffolk today.
seaside finch n. U.S. now rare the seaside sparrow, Ammospiza maritima.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > seed eaters > [noun] > family Emberizidae > subfamily Emberizinae (bunting) > ammospiza maritima (seaside sparrow)
seaside finch1808
seaside sparrow1886
1811 A. Wilson Amer. Ornithol. IV. 68 Sea-side Finch. Fringilla maritima... It inhabits the low, rush-covered sea-islands along our Atlantic coast.
1872 E. Coues Key to N. Amer. Birds 137 Sea-side Finch. Olive-gray, obscurely streaked on the back and crown.
1941 Sci. Monthly Dec. 553/1 The group comprises a number of other kinds..now utterly foreign to our conception of food birds, as the purple finch, seaside finch, cedar bird, catbird, [etc.].
seaside laurel n. any of several plants of the genus Phyllanthus (family Phyllanthaceae) having leaves or flattened green stems resembling the leaves of the bay laurel ( Laurus nobilis).
Π
1750 G. Hughes Nat. Hist. Barbados viii. 233 The Sea-Side Laurel. This beautiful Shrub grows generally near the Sea-side, cloathed with numerous Leaves. The Edges of these are remarkably indented.
1853 J. Loudon Ladies' Compan. to Flower-garden (ed. 6) 328/1 The flowers are generally greenish, but those of X[ylophilla] montàna, the Sea-side Laurel, are of a bright yellow.
2012 B. R. R. Rao in R. Kuttan & K. B. Harikumar Phyllanthus Species iii. 66 Commonly known as seaside laurel, the potato plant Phyllanthus reticulatus Poir. is a monoecious, deciduous, branched shrub or small tree reaching 4–5 m high.
seaside ox-eye n. either of two shrubs of the genus Borrichia (family Asteraceae), B. arborescens and B. frutescens, having yellow radiate flowers, and native to the West Indies, Mexico, Central America, and the south-eastern United States; cf. sea ox-eye n.
Π
1756 P. Browne Civil & Nat. Hist. Jamaica ii. ii. 320 Buphthalmum 1... The tufted Ox-eye, with slender oblong leaves. Buphthalmum 2... Samphire, or the sea-side Ox-eye.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 831/1 Ox-eye, Seaside, Borrichia arborescens.
2012 Waterbirds 35 440/2 Nests in the Laguna Madre region are typically constructed upon hardy, sharp-leaved plants such as Seaside Oxeye (Borrichia frutescens) and cacti.
seaside pea n. (the seed of) the beach pea Lathyrus japonicus; cf. sea-pea n.
Π
1810 J. Lambert Trav. Lower Canada & U.S. I. xxi. 460 Sea-side peas..are used by the Indians and French Canadians for a variety of purposes.
1911 W. C. McCollom Vines & how to grow Them ix. 89 In poor, gravelly soil, or in places between rocks where a plant has little to subsist on, the seaside pea (L[athyrus] maritimus) will give satisfaction.
2009 Dict. Food Sci. & Technol. (ed. 2) 42/1 Beach peas. Seeds produced by Lathyrus maritimus or L. japonicus... Also known as sea peas and seaside peas.
seaside potato n. the goat's foot, Ipomoea pes-caprae.
Π
1801 T. Dancer Med. Assistant 371 Dropsy.——Gamboge Thistle.—..Sea side Potatoe.
1899 Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Sentinel 4 Feb. 5/6 The ‘sea-side potato’ is a creeping plant sometimes reaching a length of 100 feet; but it does not produce an edible.
1997 A. J. Lack et al. Dominica, Nature Island Caribbean V. 30 Other Ipomoea species are the pink seashore species I. pes-caprae (seaside potato, patat bord de la mer) with leathery leaves vaguely shaped like a cloven hoof (the goat's foot of the name).
seaside sage n. an evergreen aromatic shrub, Croton flavens (family Euphorbiaceae), native to the West Indies, Mexico, Central America, and northern South America, used in traditional medicine.
Π
1750 G. Hughes Nat. Hist. Barbados vi. 143 The Balsam; or the Sea-side Sage.
1848 R. H. Schomburgk Hist. Barbados iii. iv. 593 Croton balsamiferum, Linn...Balsam or Sea-side Sage, Hughes. Sea-side Balsam, Browne. Petit Beaume.
1997 M. B. Shehadeh Phytochem. & Biol. Investig. Plants Families Euphorbiaceae & Thymelaeaceae (Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of London) i. 22 Twigs of the yellow balsam or seaside sage, Latin name Croton flavens, are used as household cleaning agents in rural areas of Middle America.
seaside sparrow n. a small sparrow, Ammospiza maritima (family Passerellidae), which typically inhabits tidal marshes along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States; cf. seaside finch n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > seed eaters > [noun] > family Emberizidae > subfamily Emberizinae (bunting) > ammospiza maritima (seaside sparrow)
seaside finch1808
seaside sparrow1886
1869 Amer. Naturalist 3 230 It [sc. the Swamp Sparrow]..is hardly distinguishable in its habits from the sea-side sparrows.
1937 T. G. Pearson in G. Grosvenor & A. Wetmore Bk. Birds II. 272/2 The northern seaside sparrow inhabits..the vicinity of the ocean beaches.
2012 C. Seabrook World Salt Marsh xv. 270 Of the nine recognized subspecies of seaside sparrow, two are extinct: the dusky and the Smyrna.
C3.
seaside postcard n. (also seaside picture-postcard) a postcard of a type commonly sold at the seaside, spec. one featuring a lewdly humorous or vulgar cartoon.
ΘΠ
society > communication > correspondence > letter > card > [noun]
card1596
message card1746
birthday card1797
view card1822
acceptance1837
Easter card1842
wedding-cards1847
comic1860
postcard1869
letter card1870
postal card1870
pc1876
postal1877
note-card1884
photo card1890
greeting-card1898
picture postcard1899
seaside postcard1955
sympathy card1967
1909 East Anglian Daily Times 21 July 6/5 Witness selected an ordinary sea-side postcard.
1910 Punch 7 Sept. 163 The most up-to-date seaside picture postcards have, we hear, the words, ‘Still raining’, printed on them, to save the correspondent unnecessary trouble.
1957 R. Hoggart Uses of Literacy i. ii. 31 The fifty-year-old formality of seaside postcards: most of the year ‘decent’ working-class people would hardly approve of them, but on holiday they are likely to ‘let up a bit’ and send a few to friends—cards showing fat mothers-in-law and fat policemen, weedy little men with huge-bottomed wives, ubiquitous bottles of beer and chamber-pots.
2019 Evening Standard (Nexis) 4 Sept. 13 The saucy seaside postcards by the artist Donald McGill, with their naughty wordplay and myriad depictions of busty women.
seaside rock n. (also seaside rock candy) chiefly British a piece of rock (rock n.1 5d) sold at the seaside, usually with a cross-section displaying the name of the resort or town in coloured lettering.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > confections or sweetmeats > sweets > [noun] > a sweet > stick or tube
wreath1562
rock1718
sugar stick1825
pipe1843
lemon platt1916
slim jim1916
seaside rock1963
1893 Yorks. Herald 23 Dec. 7/4 In lozenges, boiled goods, and seaside rock they [sc. the York Confectionery Company] have obtained their usual share of patronage.
1968 W. Garner Deep, Deep Freeze vii. 96 Carnality ran through her like the letters through seaside rock candy.
2014 East Anglian Daily Times (Nexis) 26 May Visitors to the Bury St Edmunds Whitsun Fayre got a chance to relax in deckchairs, build sandcastles and enjoy a stick of seaside rock at an impromptu beach set up in The Traverse.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2022).
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