# alga
## English
### Etymology

From Latin alga.

### Pronunciation

* (UK, US) IPA: /ˈæl.ɡə/
* Audio (US):(file)

### Noun

alga (plural algae)
* (biology) Any of many aquatic photosynthetic organisms, including the seaweeds, whose size ranges from a single cell to giant kelps and whose biochemistry and forms are very diverse, some being eukaryotic.
** 2016 January 21, “Choose Your Weaponry: Selective Storage of a Single Toxic Compound, Latrunculin A, by Closely Related Nudibranch Molluscs”, in PLOS ONE‎, →DOI:For example, the antitumour depsipeptide kahalalide F was isolated from the opisthobranch mollusc Elysia rufescens, and is used by both the mollusc and its dietary alga Bryopsis spp.

#### Usage notes

* Algaes is a non-standard plural.

#### Hyponyms

* (photosynthetic aquatic organism): seaweed; green alga (Chlorophyta and Charophyta) and red alga (Rhodophyta and Glaucophyta) in Plantae); brown alga (Phaeophyceae) and yellow-green algae (Xanthophyceae), Haptophyta, and Cryptomonada in Chromista), and blue-green alga (Cyanobacteria)
* microalga
* golden alga
* ice alga
* snow alga

#### Derived terms

* algacidal
* algaculture
* algin
* algist
* algoid
* macroalga
* picoalga

#### Translations
### Further reading

* Algae on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

### Anagrams

* Gaal, Gala, agal, gala

## Catalan
### Etymology

Inherited from Latin alga.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central, Balearic) [ˈal.ɣə]
* IPA: (Valencia) [ˈal.ɣa]
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

alga f (plural algues)
* alga

### Further reading

* “alga” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

## Faroese
### Etymology

From Latin alga.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈalka/
* Rhymes: -alka

### Noun

alga f (genitive singular algu, plural algur)
* alga

#### Declension
## Galician
### Etymology

From Latin alga.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈalɡa/ [ˈɑɫ.ɣ̞ɐ]
* IPA: (standard) /ˈalɡa/ [ˈɑɫ.ɣ̞ɐ]
* IPA: (gheada) /ˈalħa/ [ˈɑɫ.ħɐ]
* Rhymes: -alɡa
* Rhymes: -alɡa
* Rhymes: -alħa
* Hyphenation: al‧ga

### Noun

alga f (plural algas)
* alga

#### Derived terms

* alga parda
* alga verde
* alga vermella

### Further reading

* “alga”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025

## Irish
### Etymology

Borrowed from English alga, from Latin alga.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈalˠ(ə)ɡə/

### Noun

alga m (genitive singular alga, nominative plural algaí)
* (biology) alga
    Synonym: feamainn

#### Declension

bare forms
singular
plural
nominative
alga
algaí
vocative
a alga
a algaí
genitive
alga
algaí
dative
alga
algaí
forms with the definite article
singular
plural
nominative
an t-alga
na halgaí
genitive
an alga
na n-algaí
dative
leis an alga don alga
leis na halgaí :

#### Derived terms

* algach (“algal”, adjective)
* algeolaíocht f (“algology”)
* algeolaí m (“algologist”)

### Mutation

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish. All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

### Further reading

* Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “alga”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
* de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “alga”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm=

## Italian
### Etymology

From Latin alga.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈal.ɡa/
* Rhymes: -alɡa
* Hyphenation: àl‧ga

### Noun

alga f (plural alghe)
* seaweed

### Further reading

* alga in Collins Italian-English Dictionary
* alga in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

### Anagrams

* gala

## Latin
### Etymology

Of unknown origin, though probably a foreign substrate loanword related to ulva (“various grass-like or rush-like aquatic plants”). Note also similar dubiously-related forms in Baltic and Germanic with connotations of filth and dirtiness, including Lithuanian el̃mės, almens (“ichor, sanies”), (dialectal) Norwegian ul (“moldy”), olga (“to loathe”), elgja (“to fell like vomiting”), ulma (“to get moldy”), Middle Low German olm, ulm (“rottenness (esp. of wood)”), and Dutch uilig (“moldy (of wood)”). These terms have been tentatively linked to a Proto-Indo-European *alg-, *alǵ- (“to be dirty, be slimy; frog; duckweed”); other similar forms include dialectal Norwegian alka (“to dirty, soil”), Norwegian ulk (“frog, slime”), Low German ulk (“frog”). That said, it is possible that the Baltic and Germanic are not related to the Latin, or that all the terms derive from the same substrate.

### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /ˈal.ɡa/, [ˈäɫ̪ɡä]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /ˈal.ɡa/, [ˈälɡä]

### Noun

alga f (genitive algae); first declension
* Seaweed; plants that grow in freshwater.
* (figuratively) Something of little worth.

#### Declension

First-declension noun.

#### Derived terms

* algensis
* algōsus

#### Descendants

* Catalan: alga
* English: alga
* French: algue
* Galician: alga
* German: Alge
* Italian: alga
* Portuguese: alga
* Romanian: algă
* Sardinian: aliga
* Sicilian: àliga
* Spanish: alga

### References

* ↑ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “alga”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 33

### Further reading

* “alga”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press

## Latvian
### Etymology

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *algā́ˀ, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂elgʷʰ-.

### Pronunciation

* This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

### Noun

alga f (4th declension)
* salary, wage
* reward
* pay
    algu saraksts ― pay bill

#### Synonyms

* algojums
* atalgojums
* atmaksa
* atlīdzinājums
* atlīdzība
* gājiens
* izpeļņa
* maksa
* peļņa
* samaksa
* uzturs

## Lithuanian
### Etymology

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *algā́ˀ, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂elgʷʰ-. Cognate with Latvian àlga (“salary”), Old Prussian ālgas (“salary”, Gsg.), Ancient Greek ἀλφή (alphḗ, “gain, profit”), Sanskrit अर्घ (arghá, “worth, value, price”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ɐɫ̪ˈɡɐ]

### Noun

algà f (plural al̃gos) stress pattern 4
* pay, salary, wage

#### Declension
### References

* 1 2 Derksen, Rick (2015) “alga”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Baltic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 13), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 49
* ↑ “alga”, in Lietuvių kalbos etimologinio žodyno duomenų bazė [Lithuanian etymological dictionary database], 2007–2012
* ↑ “algà” in Hock et al., Altlitauisches etymologisches Wörterbuch 2.0 (online, 2020–); p. 20 in ALEW 1.1 (online, 2019).

### Further reading

* “alga”, in Lietuvių kalbos žodynas [Dictionary of the Lithuanian language], lkz.lt, 1941–2025
* “alga”, in Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos žodynas [Dictionary of contemporary Lithuanian], ekalba.lt, 1954–2025

## Lombard
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈalɡa/ (Milanese)

### Noun

alga f
* seaweed

## Occitan
### Pronunciation

* Audio:(file)

### Noun

alga f (plural algas)
* seaweed

## Old Spanish
### Etymology

From Latin alga.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈalɡa/

### Noun

alga f (plural algas)
* alga, seaweed
** c. 1250, Alfonso X, Lapidario, f. 50r:[…] Et la ſu olor es como de alga marina. ⁊ dend toma eſte nõbre[…] Its smell is like that of seaweed, thus the name it has been given.

#### Derived terms

* alguenno

#### Descendants

* Spanish: alga

## Polish
### Etymology

Borrowed from German Alge or French algue, from Latin alga. First attested in 1619.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈal.ɡa/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -alɡa
* Syllabification: al‧ga

### Noun

alga f
* alga (any of many aquatic photosynthetic organisms)
    Synonym: glon
    Hypernym: wodorost
    na bazie alg ― basedn on algae
    algi morskie ― sea/marine algae
    sproszkowane algi ― powdered algae
    nawilżające algi ― moisturizing algae
    brunatne algi ― brown algae
    zielone algi ― green algae
    niebieskie algi ― blue algae
    czerwone algi ― red algae
    lecznicze algi ― healing/therapeutic/medicinal algae
    hodowla alg ― algae culture/cultivation
    uprawa alg ― algae cultivation/growth/growing
    gatunek alg ― a species of algae

#### Declension

Usually in the plural.

#### Derived terms

* alginowy
* algologiczny
* algina
* algolog
* algologia
* kwas alginowy

### References

* ↑ Mirosław Bańko, Lidia Wiśniakowska (2021) “alga”, in Wielki słownik wyrazów obcych, →ISBN
* ↑ Witold Doroszewski, editor (1958–1969), “alga”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), Warszawa: PWN
* ↑ Krystyna Siekierska (31.03.2009) “ALGA”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century]

### Further reading

* alga in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
* alga in Polish dictionaries at PWN
* alga in Narodowy Fotokorpus Języka Polskiego

## Portuguese
### Etymology

From Latin alga.

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /ˈaw.ɡɐ/ [ˈaʊ̯.ɡɐ]
* (Brazil) IPA: /ˈaw.ɡɐ/ [ˈaʊ̯.ɡɐ]
** (Southern Brazil) IPA: /ˈaw.ɡa/ [ˈaʊ̯.ɡa]
* (Portugal) IPA: /ˈal.ɡɐ/ [ˈaɫ.ɣɐ]
* (Caipira Brazil) IPA: [ˈaɻɡa]
* Homophone: auga (Brazil)
* Rhymes: (Portugal) -alɡɐ, (Brazil) -awɡɐ
* Hyphenation: al‧ga

### Noun

alga f (plural algas)
* (botany) alga (any of many aquatic photosynthetic organisms similar to plants or bacteria)
* seaweed (any marine plant)

#### Derived terms

* algáceo
* algaço
* (diminutive) alguinha

## Serbo-Croatian
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin alga.

### Pronunciation

* This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

### Noun

ȃlga f (Cyrillic spelling а̑лга)
* alga

## Spanish
### Etymology

Inherited from Latin alga.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈalɡa/ [ˈal.ɣ̞a]
* Audio (Venezuela):(file)
* Rhymes: -alɡa
* Syllabification: al‧ga

### Noun

alga f (plural algas)
* alga

#### Derived terms

* alga marrón
* alga parda
* alga roja
* alga verde
* algal
* algar
* algoso

### Further reading

* “alga”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

## Tagalog
### Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish alga, from Latin alga.

### Pronunciation

* (Standard Tagalog) IPA: /ˈʔalɡa/ [ˈʔal.ɡɐ]
* Rhymes: -alɡa
* Syllabification: al‧ga

### Noun

alga (Baybayin spelling ᜀᜎ᜔ᜄ) (biology)
* alga

### Further reading

* “alga”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018
* Cuadrado Muñiz, Adolfo (1972) Hispanismos en el tagalo: diccionario de vocablos de origen español vigentes en esta lengua filipina, Madrid: Oficina de Educación Iberoamericana, page 24