Standard Lemma guide

siphonophore

noun · 2 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

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  • Southern-US: /saɪˈfɑ.nəˌfo˞/

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any transparent marine hydrozoans, of the order Siphonophorae, that float or swim as colonies of polyps.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: siphonophoran

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a floating or swimming oceanic colony of polyps often transparent or showily colored

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: hydrozoan, hydroid

Narrower terms: nanomia, Portuguese man-of-war, man-of-war, jellyfish, praya, apolemia

History

Etymology

From siphono- + -phore, likely from translingual Siphonophorae.

Across languages

Translations

5 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: uimapolyyppi — hydrozoan of the order Siphonophorae
  • French: siphonophore — hydrozoan of the order Siphonophorae
  • Japanese: 管クラゲ (kudakurage) — hydrozoan of the order Siphonophorae
  • Russian: сифонофо́ра (sifonofóra) — hydrozoan of the order Siphonophorae
  • Spanish: sifonóforo — hydrozoan of the order Siphonophorae