alga

See also: algâ, algă, algā, algą, and ālgā

English

Etymology

From Latin alga.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈæl.ɡə/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

alga (plural algae)

1. (biology) Any of many aquatic photosynthetic organisms, including the seaweeds, whose size ranges from a single cell to giant kelps and whose biochemistry and forms are very diverse, some being eukaryotic.
   • 2016 January 21, “Choose Your Weaponry: Selective Storage of a Single Toxic Compound, Latrunculin A, by Closely Related Nudibranch Molluscs”, in PLOS ONE‎^[1], →DOI:

     For example, the antitumour depsipeptide kahalalide F was isolated from the opisthobranch mollusc Elysia rufescens, and is used by both the mollusc and its dietary alga Bryopsis spp.

Usage notes

• Algaes is a non-standard plural.

Hyponyms

• (photosynthetic aquatic organism): seaweed; green alga (Chlorophyta and Charophyta) and red alga (Rhodophyta and Glaucophyta) in Plantae); brown alga (Phaeophyceae) and yellow-green algae (Xanthophyceae), Haptophyta, and Cryptomonada in Chromista), and blue-green alga (Cyanobacteria)
• microalga
• golden alga
• ice alga
• snow alga

Derived terms

• algacidal
• algaculture
• algin
• algist
• algoid
• macroalga
• picoalga

 

Translations

any of many aquatic photosynthetic organisms

• Albanian: algë (sq) f
• Arabic: طُحْلُب m (ṭuḥlub)
• Armenian: ջրիմուռ (hy) (ǰrimuṙ)
• Assamese: শেলাই (xelai), শেলুৱৈ (xeluoi)
• Azerbaijani: yosun (az)
• Belarusian: во́дарасць f (vódarascʹ)
• Bhojpuri: शैवाल (śaivāl)
• Bulgarian: водора́сло (bg) n (vodoráslo)
• Burmese: မှော် (my) (hmau)
• Catalan: alga (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 水藻 (zh) (shuǐzǎo), 藻類／藻类 (zh) (zǎolèi)

• Cornish: please add this translation if you can
• Czech: řasa (cs) f
• Danish: alge c
• Dutch: alg (nl) m or f
• Esperanto: algo
• Estonian: vetikas
• Faroese: alga f
• Finnish: levä (fi)
• French: algue (fr)
• Galician: alga (gl) f
• Georgian: წყალმცენარე (c̣q̇almcenare)
• German: Alge (de) f
• Greek: φύκος (el) n (fýkos)
• Greenlandic: quajaatit
• Hebrew: אַצָּה (he) f (atsá)
• Hindi: शैवाल (hi) m (śaivāl), सिवार (hi) m or f (sivār), सेवार (hi) f (sevār), शैवाल (hi) m (śaivāl)
• Hungarian: moszat (hu)
• Icelandic: þörungur m
• Ido: algo (io)
• Irish: alga m, feamainn f
• Italian: alga (it) f
• Japanese: 藻類 (ja) (そうるい, sōrui)
• Kazakh: балдыр (baldyr)
• Khmer: សារាយ (km) (saaraay), ព្រាំ (km) (proam)
• Korean: 조류 (ko) (joryu)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: kevz (ku)

• Kyrgyz: балыр (ky) (balır)
• Lao: ສາຫລ່າຍ (sā lāi)
• Latvian: aļģe f
• Lithuanian: dumbliai
• Luxembourgish: Alg f
• Macedonian: а́лга f (álga)
• Malay: alga
• Manx: algey
• Maori: pūkohu wai
• Navajo: tátłʼid
• Northern Sami: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: alge (no) m

  Nynorsk: alge m

• Persian: آلگ (fa) (âlg), جلبک (fa) (jolbak), چغزلاوه (čağazlâve)
• Polish: glon (pl) m, alga (pl) f
• Portuguese: alga (pt) f
• Punjabi: ਜਿਲਬ f (jilab)
• Romanian: algă (ro) f
• Russian: во́доросль (ru) f (vódoroslʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: feamainn f, alga m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: алга f

  Roman: alga f

• Slovak: riasa f
• Slovene: álga (sl) f
• Spanish: alga (es) f
• Swahili: mwani (sw)
• Swedish: alg (sv) c
• Tagalog: lumot
• Tajik: обсабза (obsabza), обгиёҳ (obgiyoh)
• Telugu: శైవలము (te) (śaivalamu)
• Thai: สาหร่าย (th) (sǎa-ràai)
• Turkish: alg (tr), su yosunu (tr)
• Ukrainian: во́дорость f (vódorostʹ)
• Uzbek: suvoʻt (uz)
• Vietnamese: tảo (vi)
• Walloon: ale (wa) f
• Welsh: alga (cy) m

Further reading

• Algae on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Gaal, Gala, agal, gala

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin alga.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈal.ɣə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈal.ɣa]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

alga f (plural algues)

1. alga

Further reading

• “alga” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Faroese

Etymology

From Latin alga.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈalka/
• Rhymes: -alka

Noun

alga f (genitive singular algu, plural algur)

1. alga

Declension

Declension of alga
f1	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	alga	algan	algur	algurnar
accusative	algu	alguna	algur	algurnar
dative	algu	alguni	algum	algunum
genitive	algu	algunnar	alga	alganna

Galician

Etymology

From Latin alga.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈalɡa/ [ˈɑɫ.ɣ̞ɐ]

• IPA^(key): (standard) /ˈalɡa/ [ˈɑɫ.ɣ̞ɐ]
• IPA^(key): (gheada) /ˈalħa/ [ˈɑɫ.ħɐ]

 

• Rhymes: -alɡa

• Rhymes: -alɡa
• Rhymes: -alħa

• Hyphenation: al‧ga

Noun

alga f (plural algas)

1. alga

Derived terms

• alga parda
• alga verde
• alga vermella

Further reading

• “alga”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2024

Irish

Etymology

Borrowed from English alga, from Latin alga.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈalˠ(ə)ɡə/

Noun

alga m (genitive singular alga, nominative plural algaí)

1. (biology) alga

   Synonym: feamainn

Declension

Declension of alga (fourth declension)

bare forms case singular plural nominative alga algaí vocative a alga a algaí genitive alga algaí dative alga algaí forms with the definite article case singular plural nominative an t-alga na halgaí genitive an alga na n-algaí dative leis an alga don alga leis na halgaí

Derived terms

• algach (“algal”, adjective)
• algeolaíocht f (“algology”)
• algeolaí m (“algologist”)

 

Mutation

Mutated forms of alga

radical	eclipsis	with h-prothesis	with t-prothesis
alga	n-alga	halga	not applicable

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “alga”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “alga”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm=

Italian

Etymology

From Latin alga.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈal.ɡa/
• Rhymes: -alɡa
• Hyphenation: àl‧ga

Noun

alga f (plural alghe)

1. seaweed

Further reading

• alga in Collins Italian-English Dictionary
• alga in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Anagrams

• gala

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *alg-, *alǵ- (“to be dirty, be slimy; frog; duckweed”). Cognate with Norwegian dialectal alka (“to dirty, soil”), Norwegian ulk (“frog, slime”), Low German ulk (“frog”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈal.ɡa/, [ˈäɫ̪ɡä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈal.ɡa/, [ˈälɡä]

Noun

alga f (genitive algae); first declension

1. Seaweed; plants that grow in freshwater.
2. (figuratively) Something of little worth.

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	alga	algae
genitive	algae	algārum
dative	algae	algīs
accusative	algam	algās
ablative	algā	algīs
vocative	alga	algae

Derived terms

• algensis
• algōsus

Descendants

Descendants

• Catalan: alga
• English: alga
• French: algue
• Galician: alga
• German: Alge
• Italian: alga
• Portuguese: alga
• Romanian: algă
• Sardinian: aliga
• Sicilian: àliga
• Spanish: alga

References

• “alga”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Latvian

Etymology

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *algā́ˀ, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂elgʷʰ-.

Noun

alga f (4th declension)

1. salary, wage
2. reward
3. pay

   algu saraksts ― pay bill

Declension

Declension of alga (4th declension)

	singular (vienskaitlis)	plural (daudzskaitlis)
nominative (nominatīvs)	alga	algas
accusative (akuzatīvs)	algu	algas
genitive (ģenitīvs)	algas	algu
dative (datīvs)	algai	algām
instrumental (instrumentālis)	algu	algām
locative (lokatīvs)	algā	algās
vocative (vokatīvs)	alga	algas

Synonyms

• algojums
• atalgojums
• atmaksa
• atlīdzinājums
• atlīdzība
• gājiens
• izpeļņa
• maksa
• peļņa
• samaksa
• uzturs

Lithuanian

Etymology

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *algā́ˀ, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂elgʷʰ-. Cognate with Latvian àlga (“salary”), Old Prussian ālgas (“salary”, Gsg.), Ancient Greek ἀλφή (alphḗ, “gain, profit”), Sanskrit अर्घ (arghá, “worth, value, price”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɐɫ̪ˈɡɐ]

Noun

algà f (plural al̃gos) stress pattern 4

1. pay, salary, wage

Declension

Declension of algà

	singular (vienaskaita)	plural (daugiskaita)
nominative (vardininkas)	algà	al̃gos
genitive (kilmininkas)	algõs	algų̃
dative (naudininkas)	al̃gai	algóms
accusative (galininkas)	al̃gą	algàs
instrumental (įnagininkas)	algà	algomìs
locative (vietininkas)	algojè	algosè
vocative (šauksmininkas)	al̃ga	al̃gos

Further reading

• “alga”, in Lietuvių kalbos žodynas [Dictionary of the Lithuanian language], lkz.lt, 1941–2024
• “alga”, in Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas [Dictionary of contemporary Lithuanian], ekalba.lt, 1954–2024

Lombard

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈalɡa/ (Milanese)

Noun

alga f

1. seaweed

Occitan

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

alga f (plural algas)

1. seaweed

Old Spanish

Etymology

From Latin alga.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈalɡa/

Noun

alga f (plural algas)

1. alga, seaweed
   • c. 1250, Alfonso X, Lapidario, f. 50r:

     […] Et la ſu olor es como de alga marina. ⁊ dend toma eſte nõbre

     […] Its smell is like that of seaweed, thus the name it has been given.

Derived terms

• alguenno

Descendants

• Spanish: alga

Polish

algi

Etymology

Borrowed from German Alge or French algue, from Latin alga. First attested in 1619.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈal.ɡa/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -alɡa
• Syllabification: al‧ga

Noun

alga f

1. alga (any of many aquatic photosynthetic organisms)

   Synonym: glon

   Hypernym: wodorost

   na bazie alg ― basedn on algae

   algi morskie ― sea/marine algae

   sproszkowane algi ― powdered algae

   nawilżające algi ― moisturizing algae

   brunatne algi ― brown algae

   zielone algi ― green algae

   niebieskie algi ― blue algae

   czerwone algi ― red algae

   lecznicze algi ― healing/therapeutic/medicinal algae

   hodowla alg ― algae culture/cultivation

   uprawa alg ― algae cultivation/growth/growing

   gatunek alg ― a species of algae

Declension

Usually in the plural.

Declension of alga

	singular	plural
nominative	alga	algi
genitive	algi	alg
dative	aldze	algom
accusative	algę	algi
instrumental	algą	algami
locative	aldze	algach
vocative	algo	algi

Derived terms

adjectives

• alginowy
• algologiczny

 

nouns

• algina
• algolog
• algologia
• kwas alginowy

 

Further reading

• alga in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• alga in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• alga in Narodowy Fotokorpus Języka Polskiego

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin alga.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈaw.ɡɐ/ [ˈaʊ̯.ɡɐ]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈaw.ɡɐ/ [ˈaʊ̯.ɡɐ]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈaw.ɡa/ [ˈaʊ̯.ɡa]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈal.ɡɐ/ [ˈaɫ.ɣɐ]

• (Caipira Brazil) IPA^(key): [ˈaɻɡa]
• Homophone: auga (Brazil)
• Rhymes: (Portugal) -alɡɐ, (Brazil) -awɡɐ
• Hyphenation: al‧ga

Noun

alga f (plural algas)

1. (botany) alga (any of many aquatic photosynthetic organisms similar to plants or bacteria)
2. seaweed (any marine plant)

Derived terms

• algáceo
• algaço
• (diminutive) alguinha

 

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin alga.

Noun

alga f (Cyrillic spelling алга)

1. alga

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Latin alga.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈalɡa/ [ˈal.ɣ̞a]

• Audio (Venezuela):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -alɡa
• Syllabification: al‧ga

Noun

alga f (plural algas)

1. alga

Derived terms

• alga marrón
• alga parda
• alga roja
• alga verde
• algal
• algar
• algoso

 

Further reading

• “alga”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28