moon pool

See also: moonpool, and moon-pool

English

WOTD – 25 June 2021

Etymology

A model of the Ceona Amazon, a construction and pipelaying marine vessel. The pipelaying equipment (in yellow) accesses the sea through a moon pool in the centre of the vessel.

A diving bell inside the moon pool of a diving support raft at the Solina Dam, Poland.

From moon +‎ pool, from the fact that, on some nights, moonlight can be seen reflected by the surface of the sea through the opening, making it resemble a swimming pool.^[1][2]

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmuːnpuːl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmunˌpul/

Noun

moon pool (plural moon pools)

1. (nautical, chiefly oil industry) An opening in the base of the hull of a vessel (especially a marine drilling platform), which is used for lowering equipment into the sea below.

Alternative forms

• moonpool
• moon-pool

Hyponyms

• wet porch

Translations

opening in the base of the hull of a vessel, which is used for lowering equipment into the sea below

Dutch: moonpool French: puits central (fr) m German: Moonpool Japanese: ムーンプール Swedish: månbassäng c

References

1. Douglas Rutherford [pseudonym; James Douglas Rutherford McConnell] (1981) chapter 2, in Porcupine Basin, London: Macmillan, →ISBN, page 30: “It was named moon-pool because on calm nights the water under a rig could reflect the moonlight and give the impression of a calm swimming pool.”
2. “moon pool, n.” under “moon, n.¹”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2021; “moon pool, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

• moon pool on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “moon pool”, in Collins English Dictionary.