English Explanatory Dictionary

plankton

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Organisms, especially small and microscopic ones, that drift in water.
  2. A plankter, any single organism that drifts in water.

Pronunciation

/ˈplæŋ(k).tən/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-plankton.wav LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-plankton.wav

Word forms

plankton planktons

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.

Related words

plankter planktic planktology planktotrophic

Derived words

aeroplankton archaeoplankton bacterioplankton bathyplankton epiplankton euplankton femtoplankton geoplankton haliplankton holoplankton ichthyoplankton jellyplankton limnoplankton macroplankton megaplankton meroplankton mesoplankton microplankton mixoplankton mycoplankton nanoplankton nektoplankton nonplankton office plankton paleoplankton phytoplankton picoplankton planktivore planktivorous planktonic planktonivore planktonivory planktonology planktonophagous potamoplankton protozooplankton pseudoplankton tychoplankton ultraplankton zooplankton

Translations

Arabic: عَوَالِق Catalan: plàncton Chinese Mandarin: 浮游生物 Czech: plankton Danish: plankton Esperanto: planktono Estonian: hõljum Finnish: plankton Finnish: keijusto French: plancton Galician: plancto German: Plankton Greek: πλαγκτόν Hindi: प्लवक Hungarian: plankton Ido: planktono Ido: plankton Indonesian: plankton Interlingua: plancton Irish: planctón Italian: plancton Japanese: 浮遊生物 Japanese: プランクトン Kazakh: планктон Korean: 플랑크톤 Māori: meroiti Norwegian: plankton Polish: plankton Portuguese: plâncton Romanian: plancton Russian: планкто́н Spanish: plancton Swedish: plankton Thai: แพลงก์ตอน Urdu: پیراکو Vietnamese: sinh vật phù du
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