coralline

[ kawr-uh-lin, -lahyn, kor- ]

adjective

composed of coral or having the structure of coral: coralline limestone.
corallike.

coral-colored; reddish-yellow; light yellowish-red; pinkish-yellow.

noun

any red algae impregnated with lime.
any of various corallike animals or calcareous algae.

Origin of coralline

First recorded in 1535–45, coralline is from the Late Latin word corallīnus coral red. See coral, -ine¹

Words Nearby coralline

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use coralline in a sentence

The lower and more coralline the island, the blacker the islanders; the more elevated and volcanic, the lighter.
The Ethnology of the British Colonies and Dependencies | Robert Gordon Latham
Where the white "coralline" Crag occurs, the pebble bed lies below it.
Makers of British Botany; a collection of biographies by living botanists | Various
They are composed of coralline limestone, nowhere exceeding 200 feet above the sea, and are well wooded and tolerably fertile.
The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Vol. 1 Part 2 | Various
Those of the third class are the low coralline islands, usually having lagoons of water in their midst.
The Coral Island | R.M. Ballantyne
Thus are commenced those coralline islets of which you have seen so many in these seas.
The Coral Island | R.M. Ballantyne

British Dictionary definitions for coralline

coralline

/ (ˈkɒrəˌlaɪn) /

adjective

Also: coralloid of, relating to, or resembling coral
of the colour of coral

noun

any of various red algae impregnated with calcium carbonate, esp any of the genus Corallina
any of various animals that resemble coral, such as certain sponges

Origin of coralline

C16: from Late Latin corallīnus coral red, from Latin corāllium coral

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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