plankton
Organisms, especially small and microscopic ones, that drift in waterOrganisms, especially small and microscopic ones, that drift in water.
» Whale sharks eat plankton.
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
2 senses(uncountable, usually)Organisms, especially small and microscopic ones, that drift in water.
Whales feed on tiny plankton drifting in the ocean.
The lake water was full of microscopic plankton.
the aggregate of small plant and animal organisms that float or drift in great numbers in fresh or salt water
(countable, usually)A plankter, any single organism that drifts in water.
Plankton
планкто́нplanktón
Examples
12 sentencesWhale sharks eat plankton.
The whale shark feeds on plankton.
ruКитовая акула питается планктоном. — fjay69
deDer Walhai ernährt sich von Plankton. — Pfirsichbaeumchen
Whales feed on plankton and small fish.
ruКиты питаются планктоном и мелкой рыбёшкой. — Ooneykcall
deWale ernähren sich von Plankton und kleinen Fischen. — MUIRIEL
Tiny animals such as krill eat plankton.
deWinzige Tierchen wie Krill fressen Plankton. — Pfirsichbaeumchen
The water is green with microscopic plankton.
Translations
7 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
Borrowed from German Plankton, coined by German zoologist and marine biologist Victor HensBorrowed 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.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: planktons / planktonWord family
42 related wordsLessons for this word
2 lessons- A1Plural nouns — Because its plural is irregular
- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.