madrepore

[mad-ruh-pawr, -pohr]

noun

1. any true or stony coral of the order Madreporaria, forming reefs or islands in tropical seas.

madrepore

/ ˌmædrɪˈpɔː, ˌmædrɪpəˈrɪtɪk, ˌmædrɪˈpɒrɪk /

noun

1. any coral of the genus Madrepora, many of which occur in tropical seas and form large coral reefs: order Zoantharia

Other Word Forms

• madreporic adjective
• madreporian adjective
• madreporal adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of madrepore¹

1745–55; < French madrépore reef-building coral < Italian madrepora, equivalent to madre mother (< Latin māter ) + -pora, for poro < Greek pôros kind of stone

Word History and Origins

Origin of madrepore¹

C18: via French from Italian madrepora mother-stone, from madre mother + -pora, from Latin porus or Greek poros calcareous stone, stalactite

Example Sentences

A vast quantity of small cups and paterae were made by this means in patterns which bear considerable resemblance to the surfaces of madrepores.

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There are beautifully branching trees of madrepores, whose prongs are from one to two feet in length, and sometimes curiously interlaced.

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One need only glance at the photographs of osmotic productions to recognize the forms of madrepore, fungus, alga, and shell.

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In one of the Maldive islands a coral reef, which, within a few years, existed on an islet bearing cocoa-nut trees, was found by Lieutenant Prentice, "entirely covered with live coral and madrepore."

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"The wild —— —— waste their fragrant stores In leafy islands walled with madrepores And lapped in Orient seas, When all their feathery palms toss, plume-like, in the breeze."

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