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elodea

noun
elo·​dea | \ i-ˈlō-dē-ə How to pronounce elodea (audio) \

Definition of elodea

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

Examples of elodea in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

 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, "Invasive elodea prompts closure of Susitna Valley lakes," 20 June 2019

First Known Use of elodea

circa 1868, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for elodea

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.

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