duckweed

American  

[duhk-weed] / ˈdʌkˌwid /

noun

1. any plant of the family Lemnaceae, especially of the genus Lemna, comprising small aquatic plants that float free on still water.

---

duckweed British  

/ ˈdʌkˌwiːd /

noun

1. any of various small stemless aquatic plants of the family Lemnaceae, esp any of the genus Lemna, that have rounded leaves and occur floating on still water in temperate regions

---

Etymology

Origin of duckweed

1400–50; late Middle English dockewede; so called because eaten by ducks

Example Sentences

Tia-Lynn Ashman and Martin Turcotte, evolutionary ecologists at the University of Pittsburgh, have also studied polyploidy in duckweed populations.

From Science Magazine • Aug. 23, 2023

Scientists have figured out how to coax copious amounts of oil from duckweed, one of nature’s fastest-growing aquatic plants.

From Scientific American • Jan. 25, 2023

Ms Paley describes recent innovations in protein sources, including from algae, aquatic plant duckweed, the black soldier fly, and lab-grown meat.

From BBC • Dec. 11, 2022

A warmer, calmer climate awaits just a few doors away in the warm tropics, where aquatic plants like duckweed, water poppy and lotus dance on the surface of a tank.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 29, 2022

In this way seeds of water plantain, sedges, grasses, rushes, docks, arrowhead, pondweeds, duckweed, cat-tail flag, bur reed, bladderwort, water crowfoot, and many others are transported from one pond, lake, or stream, to another.

From Seed Dispersal by Beal, W. J. (William James)