mare clausum

[ mair-ee klaw-suhm, mahr-ey; Latin mah-re klou-soom ]

noun

1. a body of navigable water under the sole jurisdiction of a nation.

mare clausum

/ ˈmɑːreɪ ˈklaʊsʊm /

noun

1. law a sea coming under the jurisdiction of one nation and closed to all others Compare mare liberum

Word History and Origins

Origin of mare clausum¹

1645–55; < Latin: closed sea

Word History and Origins

Origin of mare clausum¹

Latin: closed sea

Example Sentences

In its expansive definition of national sovereignty, this treaty allowed European states to acquire “barbarous nations” by conquest and make entire oceans into a mare clausum, or a closed sea, through exploration.

From Salon

The last have long been pursued by American whalers, whose destructive methods have so greatly depleted the supply that the government of Canada is anxious to declare the bay a mare clausum.

From Project Gutenberg

This doctrine in the History of International Law is known as that of mare clausum, or “closed sea.”

From Project Gutenberg

Several Canadian sealers were seized by the United States in 1886, on the plea that these waters constituted a mare clausum, or closed sea.

From Project Gutenberg

And now, if I be forgiven for venting this egotistic digression and harangue, I promise to make my mouth a mare clausum in future, for all personal grievances.

From Project Gutenberg