diatom

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun microscopic unicellular marine or freshwater colonial alga having cell walls impregnated with silica

From (deprecated) genus name Diatoma, from Ancient Greek διάτομος (diátomos, “cut through, cut in half”).

The whole meager flora of this region consisted of certain microscopic buds, rudimentary diatoms made up of a type of cell positioned between two quartz-rich shells, plus long purple and crimson fucus plants, buoyed by small air bladders and washed up on the coast by the surf. — Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas: An Underwater Tour of the World, Jules Verne

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