Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

pleuston

[ploo-stuh n, -ston]
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com
noun Biology.
  1. a buoyant mat of weeds, algae, and associated organisms that floats on or near the surface of a lake, river, or other body of fresh water.

Origin of pleuston

1940–45; pleus- (< Greek pleûs(is) sailing, or pleus- aorist stem of pleîn to sail, go by sea) + -ton, on the model of nekton, plankton
Related formspleus·ton·ic [ploo-ston-ik] /pluˈstɒn ɪk/, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for pleustonic

pleustonic

adjective
  1. of or relating to pleuston
  2. denoting a marine organism held at the surface of the water by a float, such as the Portuguese man-of-war

pleuston

noun
  1. a mass of small organisms, esp algae, floating at the surface of shallow pools

Word Origin

C20: from Greek pleusis sailing, from plein to sail; for form, compare plankton
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012