Dictionary

freshwater en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈfɹɛʃˌwɑtər/ (cot-caught-merger)
• /ˈfɹɛʃˌwɔtər/ without the cot–caught merger
• (US) audio
• /ˈfɹɛʃˌwɔːtə(ɹ)/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *preyskosder. Proto-Germanic *friskaz Proto-West Germanic *frisk Old English fersċ Middle English fressh English fresh Proto-Indo-European *wed- Proto-Indo-European *-r̥ Proto-Indo-European *wódr̥ Proto-Germanic *watōr Proto-West Germanic *watar Old English wæter Middle English water English water English freshwater From Middle English freche watur, fresshe water; equivalent to fresh + water.

Meanings

1. (not-comparable) Living in fresh water.
   • The trout is a freshwater fish.
2. (not-comparable) Consisting of fresh water.
   • Lake Baikal is the world's largest freshwater lake in terms of volume.
3. (not-comparable) Unskilled as a seaman.
   • “Mate,” said the captain in a low voice, “you talk like a fresh-water sailor. I can only attribute this shyness to some strange delusion, for surely,”—his voice assumed a slightly sneering tone as he said this—“surely I am not to suppose that you have become soft-hearted! […] 1858, R M Ballantyne, The Coral Island:
4. (US, not-comparable) Neoclassical, in reference to the macroeconomics and economic departments near the Great Lakes.
   • 2012, John Quiggin, Zombie Economics: How Dead Ideas Still Walk Among Us, Princeton University Press (expanded paperback ed., 1st ed. from 2010), →ISBN, page 86. Meanwhile, the freshwater side of the dispute rapidly reverted to arguments from the nineteenth century, which had been debunked by Keynes and Irving Fisher.

Deriveds

North American freshwater catfish · freshwater hydra · The Freshwater · freshwater shark · freshwater crayfish · freshwater lens · freshwater drum · freshwater pearl mussel · freshwater soldier

Hypernyms

aquatic

Hyponyms

lotic · wetland · lentic

Synonyms

sweetwater

Translations (37)

de Süßwasser- (living in fresh water) · ml ശുദ്ധജലം (consisting of fresh water) · it acqua dolce (living in fresh water) · da ferskvands- (consisting of fresh water) · gl de auga doce (living in fresh water) · es dulceacuícola (living in fresh water) · ga fionnuisce (consisting of fresh water) · da ferskvands- (living in fresh water) · fr dulçaquicole (living in fresh water) · sv sötvattens- (living in fresh water) · af varswater (living in fresh water) · gl mariño de auga doce (unskilled as seaman) · bg сладководен (living in fresh water) · fi järvi- (unskilled as seaman) · nn ferskvass- (living in fresh water) · nb ferskvanns- (living in fresh water) · ru пресново́дный (living in fresh water) · rsk сладководни (living in fresh water) · fi makeavetinen (consisting of fresh water) · de Süßwasser- (consisting of fresh water) · fi sisävesi- (unskilled as seaman) · fi makean veden (living in fresh water) · ka მტკნარი წყლის (living in fresh water) · cs sladkovodní (living in fresh water) · pl słodkowodny (consisting of fresh water) · ml ശുദ്ധജല (living in fresh water) · ms air tawar (living in fresh water) · pl słodkowodny (living in fresh water) · ga fionnuisce (living in fresh water) · bg сладководен (consisting of fresh water) · alt тус јок суулу (living in fresh water) · rsk сладководни (consisting of fresh water) · fr marin d'eau douce (unskilled as seaman) · ro de apă dulce (living in fresh water) · ga úruisce (unskilled as seaman) · hu édesvízi (living in fresh water) · fr dulcicole (living in fresh water)

freshwater en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈfɹɛʃˌwɑtər/ (cot-caught-merger)
• /ˈfɹɛʃˌwɔtər/ without the cot–caught merger
• (US) audio
• /ˈfɹɛʃˌwɔːtə(ɹ)/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *preyskosder. Proto-Germanic *friskaz Proto-West Germanic *frisk Old English fersċ Middle English fressh English fresh Proto-Indo-European *wed- Proto-Indo-European *-r̥ Proto-Indo-European *wódr̥ Proto-Germanic *watōr Proto-West Germanic *watar Old English wæter Middle English water English water English freshwater From Middle English freche watur, fresshe water; equivalent to fresh + water.

Meanings

1. (countable) A body of fresh water.
   • Fossils with low Sr/Ca ratios indicating origin in a freshwater of a type which has a low Sr/Ca ratio: […] 1953, Publications of the Institute of Marine Science, volumes 3-4, page 100:
   • Smith (1958) found that N. limnicola in Lake Merced, virtually a freshwater, had no paragnaths or at the most one on section I against the "normal" 1–2. 1967, Bent J. Muus, The Fauna of Danish Estuaries and Lagoons, page 87:
   • The chances of long-term preservation of fossils in freshwaters are minimal, for freshwaters are readily disturbed and destroyed by drought on the land masses. 2013, Brian R. Moss, Ecology of Fresh Waters: A View for the Twenty-First Century:
   • Freshwaters are portrayed in many artforms, including books such as Kenneth Grahame's childrens'^([sic]) story Wind in the Willows. 2015, Sophie Lake, Durwyn Liley, Robert Still, Britain's Habitats:
2. (alt-of, alternative, countable, uncountable) Alternative form of fresh water.
   alt of fresh water
   • Above 200m, high-salinity water was being carried southward out of the Arabian Sea. This implies that most of the freshwater was imported into the Arabian Sea in the upper layer. 2002, Friedrich A. Schott, Physical Oceanography of the Indian Ocean During WOCE, page 1246:
   • Actual field data of Cl distribution in soil after irrigation with TWW and freshwater were obtained in a field experiment in Israel (Feigin et al., 2005; Fine et al. 2007). 2011, Guy Levy, P. Fine, A. Bar-Tal, Treated Wastewater in Agriculture:
   • Alewives are anadromous fish: Born in freshwater, they spend their lives in the ocean, returning annually to their birthplaces to spawn. 2014 April 20, Richard Conniff, “An evolutionary family drama”, in The New York Times:
   • Schematic diagram of the viscosity effect during the injection of freshwater. 1978, Roger M. Waller, John T. Turk, Robert J. Dingman, “Potential effects of deep-well waste disposal in western New York”, in Geological Survey Professional Paper, page 21:

Forms

Translations (2)

ga fionnuisce (body of fresh water) · fi makean veden vesistö (body of fresh water)