What does "siphonophore" mean?

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

What is a synonym for "siphonophore"?

Common synonyms include: siphonophoran.

Pronounced //saɪˈfɑ.nəˌfo˞//.

//saɪˈfɑ.nəˌfo˞// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
Any transparent marine hydrozoans, of the order Siphonophorae, that float or swim as colonies of polyps.
"Is an individual hydra polyp analogous to an entire siphonophore colony – or is it more like a member of that colony?"
2
a floating or swimming oceanic colony of polyps often transparent or showily colored wordnet

"Is an individual hydra polyp analogous to an entire siphonophore colony – or is it more like a member of that colony?"

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

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.