madrepore

English

Etymology

From French madrépore, from Italian madrepora, from madre (“mother”), from Latin mater + poro (“pore”), from Latin porus

Noun

madrepore (plural madrepores)

1. A coral of the order Madreporaria
   • 1811, William Marsden, The History of Sumatra^[1]:

     The beauty of the madrepores and corallines, of which the finest specimens are found in the recesses of the Bay of Tappanuli, is not to be surpassed in any country.

   • 1873, David Livingstone, Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa^[2]:

     The rocks of Gonye are reddish gray sandstone, nearly horizontal, and perforated by madrepores, the holes showing the course of the insect in different directions.

2. (archaic) Any stony coral.
   • 1926, W.D. Sweeting, The Cathedral Church of Peterborough^[3]:

     This bay is approached from the choir by the first marble step which is in Frosterley, a marble with beautiful madrepores of light colour on a dark ground.

Derived terms

• madreporite

References

• madrepore in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

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Italian

Noun

madrepore f

1. Plural form of madrepora