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nekton

nek·ton

US/ˈnɛktʌn/ uncommon

noun

1.

the aggregate of actively swimming animals in a body of water ranging from microscopic organisms to whales

Origin

From German Nekton which was coined in 1890 by Ernst Haeckel. By surface analysis, Ancient Greek νηκτός (nēktós, “swimming”) + -on.

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Parts

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.