pelagic

From Latin pelagicus (and possibly pelagus); from Ancient Greek πελαγικός (pelagikós), from πέλαγος (pélagos, “sea”).

• IPA^(key): /pəˈlædʒɪk/, /pɛˈlædʒɪk/
• Rhymes: -ædʒɪk

pelagic (comparative more pelagic, superlative most pelagic)

1. (biology) Living in the open sea rather than in coastal or inland waters.
   • 1983, Richard Ellis, The Book of Sharks, Knopf, →ISBN, page 13:

     Besides, seeing a shark in an aquarium tank is not the same as seeing a shark in the wild, in its natural, pelagic habitat.

2. Of or pertaining to oceans.

• pelagic trawl
• pelagic zone
• abyssopelagic
• allopelagic
• archipelagic
• bathypelagic
• chimopelagic
• epipelagic
• eupelagic
• hadopelagic
• hemipelagic
• mesopelagic
• semipelagic

pelagic (plural pelagics)

1. (biology) Any organism that lives in the open sea rather than in coastal or inland waters.

• benthic
• oceanic
• planktonic