Phycophyte

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A photosynthetic organism, typically aquatic, that belongs to the algae rather than higher plants
2. Any of various simple plant-like organisms including seaweeds and pond scums that photosynthesize without true roots or vascular tissue
3. An algal organism that produces food through photosynthesis and lacks the complex structures found in flowering plants and ferns

Etymology: "Phycophyte" is a plain technical coinage, built from two Greek-derived elements. The first, "phyco-", comes from Greek "phykos," meaning seaweed or algae. The second, "-phyte," comes from Greek "phyton," meaning plant. Put together, the word names an organism that is a plant of the seaweed or algae kind. The formation follows a pattern common in biological vocabulary, where scientists combined classical Greek roots to name newly distinguished groups of living things. Words ending in "-phyte" are a large family in botany, which is why the second element is so easy to recognise once you know it. The word therefore carries no older folk meaning or shift in sense: its sense has stayed close to its component parts from the start.

Synonyms: algae