madrepore

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mad·re·pore

(măd′rə-pôr′)

Any of various hard corals of the genus Madrepora or of the order Scleractinia (formerly Madreporaria).

[Italian madrepora : madre, mother (from Latin māter, mātr-; see māter- in Indo-European roots) + -pora (alteration of poro, tufa, pore, from Late Latin porus, passageway; see pore², or from Latin pōrus, calcareous stone, stalactite, from Greek pōros).]

mad′re·po′ri·an adj.

mad′re·por′ic adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

madrepore

(ˌmædrɪˈpɔː)

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

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

ˌmadreˈporal, madreporic, madreporitic, ˌmadreˈporian adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

mad•re•pore

(ˈmæd rəˌpɔr, -ˌpoʊr)

n.

any coral of the order Madreporaria forming reefs or islands in tropical seas.

[1745–55; < French]

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Noun

madrepore - corals having calcareous skeletons aggregations of which form reefs and islands

madriporian coral, stony coral

coral - marine colonial polyp characterized by a calcareous skeleton; masses in a variety of shapes often forming reefs

Madreporaria, order Madreporaria - stony corals

brain coral - massive reef-building coral having a convoluted and furrowed surface

staghorn coral, stag's-horn coral - large branching coral resembling antlers

mushroom coral - flattened disk-shaped stony coral (usually solitary and unattached)

Translations

madrepora

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References in periodicals archive ?

a mixture of sediment, mud, coral and madrepore"), (82) and cays

Artificial Islands and Territory in International Law

Si ripetono, da ultimo, le metafore con cui si descrive la citta di Roma: "grande bosco", "foresta cittadina" e soprattutto "splendida conchiglia" o "conchiglia barocca", che "sopporta incrostazioni, madrepore, parassiti, senza perdere la sua forza armoniosa".

"Un altro tempo, che e quello della fantasia"

seems to have propounded in some college discussion the theory that "the development of the human body might possibly be traced from the radiated, vermicular, molluscous and vertebrate organisms." The question of surprise put to him on this proposition was, "Do you mean that the human brain is at first like a madrepore's, then like a worm's, etc?

Unnumbered polypi

These piles of clay, like madrepore (1) launched upon the dark waters of the Styx for an uncertain after- life, these altars or recumbent statues due to leave for a long journey seem to question us before the last great leap, they are saying goodbye to us with soothing words.

Terres Extremes--four artists

The hero, a poet revolutionary, as a result of some explorations among the poorest of London, suffers a bout of brain fever, in which he has a most peculiar dream: I was at the lowest point of created life; a madrepore rooted to the rock, fathoms below the tide-mark ...

Charles Kingsley: divine love, divine order

In these same works, Consolo also recovers from oblivion the ravages of the post World War II modernization on Catania, Avola, Palermo, Caltagirone, Trapani, Gibellina, Noto, Messina, Siracusa, Milazzo, Melilli, Priolo, Augusta, Licata, and especially Gela: Da quei pozzi, da quelle ciminiere sopra templi e necropoli, da quei sottosuoli d'ammassi di madrepore e di ossa, di tufi scanalati, cocci dipinti, dall'acropoli sul colle difesa da muraglie, dalla spiaggia aperta a ogni sbarco ...

Vincenzo Consolo and the postmodern writing of melancholy

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