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green alga

Any of numerous mostly freshwater algae, such as spirogyra and sea lettuce, that usually have chlorophyll unmasked by other pigments. The green algae traditionally comprised the division Chlorophyta but are now thought to consist of more than one evolutionary lineage.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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