conferva

American  

[kon-fur-vuh] / kɒnˈfɜr və /

noun

plural

confervae, confervas

1. any simple filamentous green algae, many of which were formerly classified in the genus Conferva.

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conferva British  

/ kɒnˈfɜːvə /

noun

1. any of various threadlike green algae, esp any of the genus Tribonema, typically occurring in fresh water

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Other Word Forms

• conferval adjective
• confervoid adjective
• confervous adjective

Etymology

Origin of conferva

1630–40; < Latin: a certain water plant supposed to heal wounds, akin to confervēre to grow together, heal ( con-, fervent )

Example Sentences

Microscopic animals produced from all vegetable and animal infusions; generate others like themselves by solitary reproduction; not produced from eggs; conferva fontinalis; mucor.

From The Temple of Nature; or, the Origin of Society A Poem, with Philosophical Notes by Darwin, Erasmus

Polyps may be obtained at all times of the year by bringing home duckweed, conferva, and other water-plants from the ponds.

From Marvels of Pond-life A Year's Microscopic Recreations by Slack, Henry J.

A plant of this kind is not the less dominant because some conferva inhabiting the water or some parasitic fungus is infinitely more numerous in individuals, and more widely diffused.

From The Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection, 6th Edition by Darwin, Charles

But if the conferva or parasitic fungus exceeds its allies in the above respects, it will then be dominant within its own class.

From The Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection, 6th Edition by Darwin, Charles

A clammy conferva covers everything except the mosaics upon tribune, roof, and clerestory, which defy the course of age.

From Sketches and Studies in Italy and Greece, Second Series by Brown, Horatio Robert Forbes