great duckweed

8.4

Small floating plant with round leaves that forms mats on ponds

noun

: lenteja de agua

Large mats of great duckweed can reduce oxygen levels in stagnant water.

Examples

Ponds covered with great duckweed provide habitat for insects and small fish.
Researchers studied the growth rate of great duckweed under different light conditions.
The great duckweed covers the pond's surface.
Many fish thrive in areas with great duckweed.
Large mats of great duckweed can reduce oxygen levels in stagnant water.
Ponds covered with great duckweed provide habitat for insects and small fish.
Researchers studied the growth rate of great duckweed under different light conditions.

Synonyms

duckweed

vsgreat duckweed

Specialized

1 8.3

A very small plant that floats on still water in a green carpet

is a specific widespread species rather than a general small-family plant

Spirodela polyrrhiza

vsgreat duckweed

Specialized

9.9

A small floating water plant that grows on ponds and lakes worldwide

is the same but spelled with one r in the species name

Surface Forms

great duckweed singular

great duckweeds plural

Morphology

great + duckweed

This is a simple adjective + noun composition: 'great' modifies the noun 'duckweed', so a learner who knows both words will infer it is a particular or notably large kind of duckweed (a floating aquatic plant). The structure is compositional and follows a common modifier–head pattern found cross-linguistically, so the basic meaning is directly derivable even if the learner does not know the exact species details.

Etymology

Great duckweed comes from a simple image: duckweed is made of tiny leaves that float on ponds and ducks often eat them, and great just means a bigger kind. That's why great duckweed means 'a large floating plant found on ponds'.