Algae pronunciation

/ˈælʤi/ Ever walk in the ocean and feel your feet slipping and sliding along the rocks? That slimy green stuff under your feet is algae, a nonflowering plant that grows in the water and has no stems, roots, or leaves. Algae is actually the plural form of the word alga, which in Latin means, you guessed it: "seaweed." Algae isn't just something gross looking floating on the water. It's actually important in aquatic ecology because the tiny organisms that live suspended in algae are the food base for most marine food chains.

Microbiology. any of numerous groups of chlorophyll-containing, mainly aquatic, eukaryotic organisms ranging from microscopic single-celled forms to multicellular forms 100 feet (30 meters) or more long, distinguished from plants by the absence of true roots, stems, and leaves and by a lack of nonreproductive cells in the reproductive structures: classified into the six phyla Euglenophyta, Crysophyta, Pyrrophyta, Chlorophyta, Phaeophyta, and Rhodophyta.

Recent Examples on the Web One is a waste product left over after another type of omega-3 fatty acid, called EPA, has been extracted from the microalga for use in human nutritional supplements. — Pallab Sarker, The Conversation, 14 Dec. 2020 The bun was enriched with chlorella, a microalga, and the sauce laced with sea lettuce, another common algae. — Marta Zaraska, Discover Magazine, 13 Mar. 2019 These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'microalga.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.