kelp
n.n. a type of large, green seaweed that grows in the ocean. It is often used to make food or to make the ocean look more natural in movies.
n. a large, brown seaweed of the order Laminariales, which forms dense underwater forests in coastal areas. Often used in the plural to refer to the plant as a whole.
The kelp grows very quickly in the cold ocean.
Marine biologists study kelp forests because they provide a vital habitat for many species of fish and invertebrates.
The rapid growth of kelp can be both a blessing and a curse for coastal communities, as it provides a renewable resource for biofuels while also potentially damaging local fisheries through its dense canopy.
Inherited from Middle English kelpe, culpe, kilpe (Early Modern English kilpe), of unclear origin, though the attested forms point to Old English cylp, possibly from Proto-West Germanic kulpi, from Proto-Germanic kulpiz (“lump, boll”, referencing the airsacks of species such as bladderwrack and knotweed), potentially a substrate term connected to Latin globus (“globe”) and Proto-Germanic klumpô (“clump”). If the above theory is accepted, cognate with Low German Kulp, Külp, Kulpe (“lump in the eye, ball, thick nose”), Norwegian Nynorsk kulp (“short tube”), and Swedish kulp (“stout person”); further compare Bavarian Kolpel (“lump of stone”), Icelandic kúlpa (“to protrude”), Low German kulpen, külpen (“to pile up”), Low German Kulpogen (“large eye”), and West Frisian kolpje (“to pout”).
From Middle English kelpe, kylpe, from Old Norse kilpr (“the handle of a vessel, loop”). Related to Old Norse kelpa (“otter trap”).