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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

plankton.

Organisms, especially small and microscopic ones, that drift in water.

8 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈplæŋ(k).tən/
  1. Organisms, especially small and microscopic ones, that drift in water.

    uncountable · usually
    Whales feed on tiny plankton drifting in the ocean.
    The lake water was full of microscopic plankton.
  2. A plankter, any single organism that drifts in water.

    countable · usually
Where this word comes from

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.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.