Word of the Day

Pelagic

Pronunciation

[puh-LAJ-ik]                                                                                                                       

Part of speech

Adjective                                                                                                                                            

Origin

Greek                                                                                                                                            

Definition(s)

Of, relating to, or living or occurring in the open sea.                                                     

Used in a sentence           

  1. Visitors will not only explore submarine feeding stations attracting large pelagic fish like manta rays and pilot whales, but gain a deeper understanding of one of the world’s most isolated societies.
  2. Only one pelagic cormorant nest was found — and later abandoned by the parents — when researchers typically see 150 nests.                                                                      

Synonyms

  • Marine
  • Maritime
  • Oceanic

Did you know?

Pelagic comes to us from Greek, via Latin. The Greek word pelagikos became "pelagicus" in Latin and then "pelagic" in English. ("Pelagikos" is derived from "pelagos," the Greek word for "sea," plus the adjectival suffix -ikos.) "Pelagic" first showed up in dictionaries in 1656; a definition from that time says that Pelagick meant "of the Sea, or that liveth in the Sea." A full 350 years later, writers are still using "pelagic" with the same meaning, albeit less frequently than its more familiar synonym "oceanic.                    

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Courtesy of Merriam-Webster.com