benthic

English

WOTD – 9 September 2007

Etymology

From benthos +‎ -ic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɛnθɪk/

• Audio (Southern England):

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Adjective

benthic (not comparable)

1. Pertaining to the benthos; living on the seafloor, as opposed to floating in the ocean.

   Synonym: benthonic

   Antonym: planktonic

   • 1878, Proceedings of the United States National Museum, Smithsonian Institution Press, page 3:

     The benthic environment, except for intertidal areas, has been scarcely explored […]

   • 1974, R. H. Parker, The Study of Benthic Communities, New York: American Elsevier Publishing Company, page 191:

     As the classical approach to benthic community studies originated primarily with Danish biologists, a section is devoted to comparisons of Danish bottom communities with those obtained in Hadley Harbor.

   • 1994, Hans M. Bolli, Jean-Pierre Beckmann, John B. Saunders, Benthic Foraminiferal Biostratigraphy of the South Caribbean Region, Cambridge University Press, page 1:

     Benthic foraminifera have been used for stratigraphic purposes almost since they began to be studied systematically.

Hypernyms

• marine
• limnic

Hyponyms

• sublittoral, neritic
• bathyal
• abyssal
• hadal

Coordinate terms

• planktonic
• pelagic

Derived terms

• abyssalbenthic
• abyssobenthic
• archibenthic
• benthically
• benthic black
• cryptobenthic
• endobenthic
• epibenthic
• holobenthic
• hyperbenthic
• macrobenthic
• megabenthic
• meiobenthic
• merobenthic
• mesobenthic
• microbenthic
• nonbenthic
• pelagobenthic
• phytobenthic
• subbenthic
• suprabenthic
• zoobenthic

 

Translations

of the benthos on the seafloor

• Dutch: benthonisch
• Finnish: benttinen
• French: benthique (fr) m or f
• Galician: bentónico (gl)
• German: benthonisch (de), benthisch (de)
• Irish: beantach (ga)
• Italian: bentonico (it)
• Latin: benthicus
• Polish: bentoniczny (pl), bentosowy (pl)
• Portuguese: bêntico, bentônico
• Spanish: bentónico (es)

Noun

benthic (plural benthics)

1. Any organism that lives on the seafloor.

Anagrams

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