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madrepore

[mad-ruh-pawr, -pohr]

noun

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

Origin:
1745–55; < French madrépore reef-building coral < Italian madrepora, equivalent to madre mother (< Latin māter) + -pora, for poro < Greek pôros kind of stone

Related forms

mad·re·por·ic

[mad-ruh-pawr-ik, -por-] , mad·re·po·ri·an

[mad-ruh-pawr-ee-uhn, -pohr-] , adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Madrepore is always a great word to know.

So is quincunx. Does it mean:

an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.

a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

madrepore (ˌmædrɪˈpɔː)

—n
	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]

madre'poral

—*adj*

madreporic

—*adj*

madreporitic

—*adj*

madre'porian

—*adj*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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madrepore

mad·re·pore