ドイツの物理学者Viktor hensenがギリシャ語のplankton, drifter, floatから作った造語で、おそらくPIE *plak, to strike, to beatに由来し、語源的にはplague, plangentと同じ。
英語の語源
plankton
plankton: [19] The ultimate source of plankton is Greek plázein ‘hit’, a descendant of the same base as produced English apoplexy, plague, and plectrum. The link between these two unlikelysounding relatives is that something that is hit moves or wanders, and plankton are minute organisms that wander or drift in the ocean. The Greek derivative plagtón meant ‘wanderer’, and the application to ‘plankton’ was first made in German in the 1880s. => plague
plankton (n.)
1891, from German Plankton (1887), coined by German physiologist Viktor Hensen (1835-1924) from Greek plankton, neuter of planktos "wandering, drifting," verbal adjective from plazesthai "to wander, drift," from plazein "to drive astray," from PIE root *plak- (2) "to strike, hit" (see plague (n.)). Related: Planktonic.
例文
1. The first organismthat reproduced sexually were free-floating plankton .
最初に有性繁殖を始めた生物は、浮遊するプランクトンである。
2.The fish live on the plankton .
この魚はプランクトンを食べて生きている。
3. Plankton is at the bottom of the marine food chain.
プランクトンは海洋食物連鎖の最下層にある。
4.Diatoms and other tiny organism form Antarctic plankton .