I remember reading that, in middlelow German the meanings were swapped “See” meaning the ocean and “Meer” meaning large body of standing water.
replyThat’s probably why the lake is called “Steinhuder Meer”.
In low German the word for ocean still is “See”.
Der See - the lake
replyDie See - the ocean
As a Dutch person, we were taught German in secondary school and Meer/See were the textbook example of false friends:
replyhet meer - der See - the lake
de zee - das Meer - the sea
I don't remember being taught "die See" but I also dropped my German course after one year (which I now regret). Anyway, I always thought this was an interesting development in our languages.