Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
noun
Any of several reduced floating aquatic plants in the subfamily Lemnoideae of the family Araceae.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: duckmeat, ducksmeat
Antonyms: none provided
noun
any small or minute aquatic plant of the family Lemnaceae that float on or near the surface of shallow ponds
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: aquatic plant, water plant, hydrophyte, hydrophytic plant
Narrower terms: common duckweed, lesser duckweed, Lemna minor, star-duckweed, Lemna trisulca, great duckweed, water flaxseed, Spirodela polyrrhiza, watermeal, mud midget, bogmat, Wolffiella gladiata
History
From duck + weed. Supposedly so-named for often being consumed by ducks and other waterfowl. Compare Middle English dokemete (“duckweed”, literally “duck-food”).
Across languages
45 source translations are retained for this English entry.
