alga

American  

[al-guh] / ˈæl gə /

noun

plural

algae, algas

1. any organism belonging to one of the numerous groups of algae.

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alga Scientific  

/ ăl′gə /

plural

algae

1. Any of various green, red, or brown organisms that grow mostly in water, ranging in size from single cells to large spreading seaweeds. Like plants, algae manufacture their own food through photosynthesis and release large amounts of oxygen into the atmosphere. They also fix large amounts of carbon, which would otherwise exist in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. Algae form a major component of marine plankton and are often visible as pond scum and blooms in tidal pools. Land species mostly live in moist soil and on tree trunks or rocks. Some species live in extreme environments, such as deserts, hot springs, and glaciers. Although they were once classified as plants, the algae are now considered to be protists, with the exception of the cyanobacteria, formerly called blue-green algae. The algae do not form a distinct phylogenetic group, but the word alga serves as a convenient catch-all term for various photosynthetic protist phyla, including the green algae, brown algae, and red algae.

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Other Word Forms

• alga-like adjective
• algal adjective
• antialgal adjective
• non-algal adjective

Example Sentences

Moreover, the alga cannot easily move away from the light like animals and humans can.

From Science Daily • Nov. 18, 2024

Blue-green algae is not actually an alga but rather a type of bacteria called cyanobacteria.

From BBC • Jul. 10, 2023

Myriam Valero, a population geneticist at CNRS, the French national research agency, has been studying the genetics of the red alga Gracilaria gracilis for many years in the tidepools of Europe.

From Science Magazine • Jul. 27, 2022

Giant kelp is the common name for Macrocystis pyrifera, a species of alga that grows into lush underwater forests along the coast of the northeastern Pacific Ocean, from Baja California north to southeastern Alaska.

From Scientific American • Jul. 21, 2022

She is curious; she wants to know the difference between an alga and a lichen, a Diplodon char- ruanus and a Diplodon delodontus.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr