water: used in compound names of certain liquid substances (as in aqua regia) or solutions of substances in water (as in aqua ammoniae), esp in the names of pharmacological solutions
- short for
aquamarine 2
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
aq•ua /ˈækwə, ˈɑkwə/USA pronunciation
n. [uncountable]
aqua-, prefix.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- a light greenish blue color.
aqua-, prefix.
- aqua- comes from Latin, where it has the meaning "water''. This meaning is found in such words as: aquaculture, aquarium, aquatic, aqueduct, aqueous, aquifer.
aq•ua
(ak′wə, ä′kwə),USA pronunciation n., pl. aq•uae (ak′wē, ä′kwē),USA pronunciation aq•uas, adj.
n.
adj.
aqua-,
n.
- [Chiefly Pharm.]
- water.
- a liquid.
- a solution, esp. in water.
- a light greenish-blue color.
adj.
- having the color aqua.
- Latin: water
- Middle English 1350–1400
aqua-,
- var. of aqui-.
- probably origin, originally attributive use of aqua, or generalized from words in which it is etymologically the head noun of a phrase, as aquamarine, aquatint
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'aqua' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
AQ
- Aegir
- Aqua-Lung
- Cousteau
- aguardiente
- ammonia
- aq. bull.
- aq. comm.
- aq. dest.
- aq. ferv.
- aqua ammoniae
- aqua fortis
- aqua pura
- aqua regia
- aqua vitae
- aquacade
- aquaculture
- aquaerobics
- aquafarm
- aquamanile
- aquamarine
- aquanaut
- aquaplane
- aquatic
- aquatint
- aquatone
- aquavit
- aqueduct
- aqueous
- aqui-
- copperas
- eau de vie
- ewer
- gouache
- nitric acid
- nitrohydrochloric acid
- scald
- sewer
- sluice
- subaqua
- whiskey