noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
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
Pronunciation
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.
/ˈplæŋ(k).tən/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -æŋktən
rhymes with -æŋtən
CMU ARPABET:P L AE1 NG K T AH0 N
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
Organisms, especially small and microscopic ones, that drift in water.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
Examples
Whales feed on tiny plankton drifting in the ocean.
The lake water was full of microscopic plankton.
The study focused on the role of plankton in the food chain.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
A plankter, any single organism that drifts in water.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, usually
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
the aggregate of small plant and animal organisms that float or drift in great numbers in fresh or salt water
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: organism, being
History
Etymology
Borrowed from German Plankton, coined by German zoologist and marine biologist Victor Hensen. By surface analysis, Ancient Greek πλαγκτός (planktós, “drifter”) + -on. Ultimately from Ancient Greek πλαγκτόν (planktón, “drifting”), neuter nominative of πλαγκτός (planktós), from πλάζομαι (plázomai, “to wander, drift”), from πλάζω (plázō, “to cause to wander, drive astray”). By surface analysis, plankt- + -on.
Across languages
Translations
38 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
عَوَالِق
(ʕawāliq)
— aquatic organism
Catalan:
plàncton
— aquatic organism
Chinese Cantonese:
浮游生物
(fau4 jau4 sang1 mat6)
— aquatic organism
Chinese Mandarin:
浮游生物
(fúyóu shēngwù)
— aquatic organism
