elodea

noun

elo·​dea i-ˈlō-dē-ə 

: any of a small American genus (Elodea) of submerged aquatic monocotyledonous herbs

Examples of elodea in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Plants include bacopa, elodea, stream moss, duckweed, azolla and ludwigia. —Janene Holzberg, baltimoresun.com, 3 Sep. 2019

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has closed Alexander and Sucker lakes to all access this summer, specifically targeting controlling the spread of elodea. —Author: Elizabeth Earl, Anchorage Daily News, 20 June 2019

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin, genus name, derivative from the base of Greek helṓdēs "marshy," from hélos (neuter s-stem) "wet meadow, marsh" (probably going back to Indo-European *selos- "marsh," whence also Sanskrit sáraḥ "pond, lake") + -ōdēs "like, having the nature of" (probably generalized from adjectives describing smells, as kēṓdēs "smelling like incense," from the base od- of ózein "to smell, give off odor") — more at odor

Note: Genus named by the French botanist André Michaux (1746-1802) in Flora Boreali-Americana, vol. 1 (1803), p. 20.

First Known Use

circa 1868, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for elodea

• custodia
• plasmodia
• pseudopodia

Kids Definition

elodea

noun

elo·​dea i-ˈlōd-ē-ə 

: any of a small genus of American herbs with leafy stems that live underwater