aquatic
Americanadjective
-
of, in, or pertaining to water.
-
living or growing in water.
aquatic plant life.
-
taking place or practiced on or in water.
aquatic sports.
noun
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an aquatic plant or animal.
-
aquatics, sports practiced on or in water.
adjective
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growing, living, or found in water
-
sport performed in or on water
noun
Other Word Forms
- aquatically adverb
- nonaquatic adjective
- transaquatic adjective
Etymology
Origin of aquatic
1480–90; < Latin aquāticus, equivalent to aqu ( a ) water + -āticus ( -ate 1, -ic ); replacing late Middle English aquatyque < Middle French < Latin, as above
Explanation
If it has to do with water, it's aquatic. If you prefer your volleyball net in a pool, it sounds like you're into aquatic sports. The word aquatic comes from the Latin word aqua, which means water. The adjective also describes something that takes place in water. If you are on a swimming or diving team, you can say you are into aquatic sports, which may take place at an aquatic center. If you visit an aquatic garden, you'll see plants that thrive in water like water lilies and lotus flowers.
Vocabulary lists containing aquatic
Something's Fishy: A Fresh Catch of Aquatic Words
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Elements of the Universe: Aqua ("Water")
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Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
How a “fish doorbell” is saving aquatic lives.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 13, 2026
They say more than 85 per cent of aquatic and marine vegetation, including saltmarsh, seagrass and kelp, has been lost over the past 50 years.
From BBC • Apr. 13, 2026
The erudite and engaging historian Lincoln Paine unfolds our relationship to the aquatic planet for the past 5,000 years.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 17, 2026
A few moments like an accidental death or the wild introduction of an aquatic character are so wonderfully out of left field they make one’s head spin.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 6, 2026
It is an antique term for physician, and also for the aquatic worm sanguisugus, used for leeching.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
