madrepore

American  

[mad-ruh-pawr, -pohr] / ˈmæd rəˌpɔr, -ˌpoʊr /

noun

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

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madrepore British  

/ ˌmædrɪˈpɔː /

noun

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

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Other Word Forms

• madreporal
  adjective
• madreporian
  adjective
• madreporic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of madrepore

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

madrepore

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

From The Mechanism of Life by Stéphane Leduc

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."

From Principles of Geology or, The Modern Changes of the Earth and its Inhabitants Considered as Illustrative of Geology by Sir Charles Lyell

It is a marvellous spectacle to see a formless fragment of calcium salt grow into a shell, a madrepore, or a fungus, and this as the result of a simple physical force.

From The Mechanism of Life by Stéphane Leduc

Aleck continued, gleefully, whilst I drew in line, and my kite slowly descended; "we shall have time for the sailing match, and madrepore hunt, and the caverns—everything!"

From The Story of the White-Rock Cove by Anonymous

Another species of British madrepore, found by Mr. Gosse at Ilfracombe, and by Mr. Kingsley at Lundy Island.

From Glaucus, or the Wonders of the Shore by Charles Kingsley