madrepore

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun corals having calcareous skeletons aggregations of which form reefs and islands

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

These walls are specially the work of those madrepores known as milleporas, porites, madrepores, and astraeas. — Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea, Jules Verne
The madrepore pier had been nearly swept away, and the houses near the water were flooded. — Southern Arabia, J. Theodore (James Theodore) Bent
The sub-soil of Paris, if the eye could penetrate its surface, would present the aspect of a colossal madrepore. — Les Misérables, Victor Hugo

stony coral, madriporian coral

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