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Webster 1913 Edition

Madrepore

Mad′re-pore

,
Noun.
[F.
madrepore
, perh. fr.
madré
spotted, fr. OF.
madre
,
mazre
, a kind of knotty wood with brown spots, fr. OHG.
masar
a knot, grain, or vein in wood, a speck, G.
maser + pore
(see
Pore
); or perh. F.
madrépore
is rather from It.
madrepora
, and this perh. fr. It.
madre
mother (see
Mother
) + Gr. [GREEK] a soft stone.]
(Zool.)
Any coral of the genus
Madrepora
, a group of corals having calcareous skeletons aggregations of which form reefs and islands; formerly, often applied to any stony coral.

Syn. – stony coral, madriporian coral.

Webster 1828 Edition

Madrepore

MAD'REPORE

,
Noun.
A submarine substance of a stony hardness, resembling coral. It consists of carbonate of lime with some animal matter. It is of a white color, wrinkled on the surface,and full of cavities or cells, inhabited by a small animal. From a liquor discharged by this animal, the substance is said to be formed. Madrepores constitute a genus of polypiers, of variable forms, always garnished with radiated plates.

Definition 2025

madrepore

madrepore

See also: madrépore

English

Noun

madrepore ‎(plural madrepores)

  1. A coral of the genus Madrepora or of the larger group Madreporaria.
    • 1811, William Marsden, The History of Sumatra:
      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:
      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:
      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

References

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

Italian

Noun

madrepore f

  1. plural of madrepora

Etymology

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

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