microplastic

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *mey-der.?

Ancient Greek μῑκρός (mīkrós)

Ancient Greek μῑκρο- (mīkro-)lbor.

English micro-

Proto-Hellenic *plátʰyō

Proto-Hellenic *plát͏̌t͏̌ō?

Ancient Greek πλάσσω (plássō)

Proto-Indo-European *-tós

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *-tis

Proto-Hellenic *-tis

Ancient Greek -τῐς (-tĭs)

Ancient Greek -σῐς (-sĭs)

Proto-Indo-European *-kos

Proto-Hellenic *-kos

Ancient Greek -κός (-kós)

?

Proto-Indo-European *-tós

Proto-Hellenic *-tós

Ancient Greek -τος (-tos)

▲

Ancient Greek -κός (-kós)

?

Ancient Greek -τικός (-tikós)

Ancient Greek πλᾰστῐκός (plăstĭkós)der.

Latin plasticusder.

English plastic

English microplastic

From micro- + plastic.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmaɪkɹə(ʊ)ˌplæstɪk/

• Audio (Southern England); /ˈmaɪkɹəˌplæstɪk/:

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmaɪkɹoʊˌplæstɪk/, /ˈmaɪkɹəˌplæstɪk/
• Rhymes: -æstɪk
• Hyphenation: mi‧cro‧plas‧tic

Noun

microplastic (countable and uncountable, plural microplastics)

1. Small particles of plastic (typically less than 5 mm) produced by the degradation of plastic products, found in high levels in the marine environment and increasingly throughout all environments and in food and drinks.

   Hyponym: microbead

   • 2022 March 24, Damian Carrington, “Microplastics found in human blood for first time”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎^[1], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 23 October 2026:

     Huge amounts of plastic waste are dumped in the environment and microplastics now contaminate the entire planet, from the summit of Mount Everest to the deepest oceans.

   • 2023 June 5, Yvonne Gordon, “Microplastics found in every sample of water taken during Ocean Race”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎^[2], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 18 October 2026:

     Sailors testing the waters during the Ocean Race, which travels through some of the world’s most remote ocean environments, have found microplastics in every sample.

   • 2024 December 17, Lex Harvey, “Microplastics are choking our waters. Could a sponge made of squid bones help remove them?”, in CNN‎^[3], Atlanta, Ga.: Warner Bros. Discovery, archived from the original on 13 May 2025:

     “Even under a variety of policies, including plastic product reduction, waste management, and environmental recycling, microplastic pollution is irreversible and escalating.”

Coordinate terms

• macroplastic
• megaplastic
• mesoplastic
• nanoplastic

Translations

small particles of plastic

• Basque: mikroplastiko
• Catalan: microplàstic m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 微塑料 (wēisùliào)

• Danish: mikroplast (da) c
• Dutch: microplastic (nl) n
• Estonian: mikroplast
• Finnish: mikromuovi (fi)
• French: microplastique (fr) m
• Galician: microplástico m
• Georgian: მიკროპლასტმასი (miḳroṗlasṭmasi)
• German: Mikroplastik (de) n
• Greek: μικροπλαστικό n (mikroplastikó)
• Hungarian: mikroműanyag, mikroplasztik
• Interlingua: microplastico
• Italian: microplastica f
• Japanese: マイクロプラスチック (ja) (maikuropurasuchikku)
• Korean: 미세플라스틱 (misepeullaseutik)
• Malay: mikroplastik (ms)
• Polish: mikroplastik (pl) m inan
• Portuguese: microplástico (pt) m
• Romanian: microplastic n
• Russian: микропла́стик (ru) m (mikroplástik)
• Spanish: microplástico (es) m
• Thai: ไมโครพลาสติก (th) (mai-kroo-pláas-dtìk)
• Turkish: mikroplastik
• Ukrainian: мікропластик m (mikroplastyk)

Adjective

microplastic (not comparable)

1. Exhibiting microplasticity.

Further reading

• microplastics on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English microplastic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmi.kroːˌplɛs.tɪk/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: mi‧cro‧plas‧tic

Noun

microplastic n (plural microplastics, no diminutive)

1. (Netherlands) microplastic

   Synonym: microplastiek