sea change

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day on June 5, 2025, is "sea change," pronounced SEE-CHAYNJ. It's a noun signifying a significant and abrupt transformation. The term originally, in Shakespeare's *The Tempest*, referred to a change caused by the sea. Ariel's song describes a transformation into something "rich and strange." The original meaning was literal, a change caused by the sea. However, the modern usage is figurative, denoting a substantial alteration. The modern meaning evolved, losing the literal connection to the sea. Authors like Dickens and Thoreau used the older sense, associating it with "suffering" a change. Now, a "sea change" is simply experienced or undergone. The word describes a profound and sudden shift.