madrepore

2 definitions found

madrepore - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Madrepore \Mad"re*pore\, n. [F. madrepore, perh. fr. madr['e]
     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. madr['e]pore
     is rather from It. madrepora, and this perh. fr. It. madre
     mother (see Mother) + Gr. ? 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.
          [1913 Webster]

madrepore - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  madrepore
      n 1: corals having calcareous skeletons aggregations of which
           form reefs and islands [syn: stony coral, madrepore,
           madriporian coral]