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.
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noun
Plankton, especially those small in size, that obtain energy by photosynthesis.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
photosynthetic or plant constituent of plankton; mainly unicellular algae
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: plant, flora, plant life
Narrower terms: planktonic algae, diatom
History
From phyto- + plankton. From Ancient Greek φυτόν (phutón, “plant”) + πλαγκτόν (planktón), neuter of πλαγκτός (planktós, “wandering”). However, they are no longer classified as plants, so the terminology is showing a historical meaning.
Across languages
10 source translations are retained for this English entry.
