rockweedn.
/ˈrɒkwiːd/, U.S. /ˈrɑkˌwid/ Seaweed; esp. a seaweed of the genus Fucus or the genus Sargassum, growing in intertidal waters and on rocks and corals in coastal areas.
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the world > plants > particular plants > algae > seaweed > [noun] > of unspecified or various types
sea-grass1591
rockweed1599
sea-tree1601
zoster1601
float-ore1602
vraic1610
sea-wrack1611
spangle-wort1681
trunk-weed1730
turtle-grass1736
sea-pine1762
agar-agar1769
greenweed1820
bull-kelpc1929
agarophyte1944
1599 J. Welsh in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (new ed.) II. 128 The 12th July in 30 degrees of latitude we met with great store of rock weed, which did stick together like clusters of grapes.
1627 J. Smith Sea Gram. ix. 43 Rockweed doth grow by the shore, and is a signe of land.
1665 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 1 13 Upon which..Rock-weed or Sea-tangle did grow a hand long.
1727 W. Shurtleff Distressing Dangers 42 But still our great Want was Provisions; having nothing to eat but Rockweed and very few Muscles; and the Spring-Tide being (thank God safely over) we cou'd scarce get any at all.
1785 Mem. Amer. Acad. Arts & Sci. 1 526 I found a particular marine plant that requires no other preparation but drying and pulverizing, and is commonly known by the name of rock-weed.
1819 D. B. Warden Statist., Polit. & Hist. Acct. U.S. I. 366 The coast [of Maine] furnishes a marine vegetable called rock-weed.
1888 G. B. Goode Amer. Fishes 171 He took the sprays of rock-weed in his hands and pulled them slowly to him.
1925 Geogr. Jrnl. 66 435 It is apparently a rock weed like our bladder-wrack.
2002 Canad. Geographic Jan. 13/2 Unlike dulse, rockweed isn't eaten raw—thank goodness. It is an ingredient in health and beauty products.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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