Pacific

From Latin pācificus (“peace-making”), so called by Magellan because he sailed peacefully over it after weathering Cape Horn.

• IPA^(key): /pəˈsɪfɪk/

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the Pacific

1. The Pacific Ocean.
   • 1942 [1942 October 22], Kai-shek Chiang, “Endurance, conscientiousness”, in All We Are and All We Have‎^[1], New York: Chinese News Service, →OCLC, page 45:

     When our last plenary session was held in November of last year the Pacific was threatened with imminent outbreak of war. Since the subsequent beginning of the Japanese campaign of aggression in that ocean, China, in the company of her allies, has become the most important member of the forces fighting on the continent of East Asia.

2. A city in Franklin County, Missouri, United States.

Pacific (plural Pacifics)

1. (rail transport) A steam locomotive of the 4-6-2 wheel arrangement.
   • 1951 April, Stirling Everard, “A Matter of Pedigree”, in Railway Magazine, number 600, page 273:

     Britannia's firebox would appear to have derived from those of the Bulleid Pacifics, which it closely resembles.

   • 1954 August, J. B. Snell, “The New Zealand Government Railways—2”, in Railway Magazine, page 559:

     These were the first class of tender locomotives with this wheel arrangement in the world, although there is some doubt as to whether the name "Pacific" was given to the type because New Zealand is in the Pacific Ocean or because some similar engines were built a few months later for the Missouri Pacific Railroad.

Pacific (not comparable)

1. Related to the Pacific Ocean.