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salpa

[sal-puh]
noun, plural sal·pas, sal·pae [sal-pee] /ˈsæl pi/.
  1. any free-swimming, oceanic tunicate of the genus Salpa, having a transparent, more or less fusiform body.
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Also salp [salp] /sælp/.

Origin of salpa

1510–20; < New Latin, special use of Latin salpa < Greek sálpē kind of fish
Related formssal·pi·form [sal-puh-fawrm] /ˈsæl pəˌfɔrm/, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for salp

Historical Examples

  • Maury has described certain amphipod crustaceans which also inhabit the Salp.

    Animal Parasites and Messmates

    P. J. Van Beneden

British Dictionary definitions for salp

salpa

noun plural -pas or -pae (-piː)
  1. any of various minute floating animals of the genus Salpa, of warm oceans, having a transparent barrel-shaped body with openings at either end: class Thaliacea, subphylum Tunicata (tunicates)
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Derived Formssalpiform (ˈsælpɪˌfɔːm), adjective

Word Origin

C19: from New Latin, from Latin: variety of stockfish, from Greek salpē
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