Phytoplankton
//ˌfaɪ.təˈplæŋk.tən// noun
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Plankton, especially those small in size, that obtain energy by photosynthesis. countable, uncountable
- 2 photosynthetic or plant constituent of plankton; mainly unicellular algae wordnet
Example
More examples"About two-thirds of the Earth's oxygen is produced by phytoplankton."
Etymology
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.
Related phrases
More for "phytoplankton"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.