Adjacent Words

Coral definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CORAL, n. [L. Gr.]
1. In zoology, a genus belonging to the order of vermes zoophyta. The trunk is radicated, jointed and calcarious. The species are distinguished by the form of their branches, and are found in the ocean adhering to stones, bones, shells, etc. Coral was formerly supposed to be a vegetable substance, but is now known to be composed of a congeries of animals. Coral is red, white and black. It is properly the shells of marine animals of the polype kind, consisting of calcarious earth combined with gelatine and other animal matter. In the South Sea, the isles are mostly coral rocks covered with earth. Corals seem to consist of carbonate of lime and animal matter, in equal proportions.
2. A piece of coral worn by children about their necks.
CORAL, a. Made of coral; resembling coral.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: of a strong pink to yellowish-pink color n
1: a variable color averaging a deep pink
2: the hard stony skeleton of a Mediterranean coral that has a delicate red or pink color and is used for jewelry [syn: coral, red coral, precious coral]
3: unfertilized lobster roe; reddens in cooking; used as garnish or to color sauces
4: marine colonial polyp characterized by a calcareous skeleton; masses in a variety of shapes often forming reefs

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin corallium, from Greek korallion Date: 14th century 1. a. the calcareous or horny skeletal deposit produced by anthozoan or rarely hydrozoan polyps; especially a richly red precious coral secreted by a gorgonian (genus Corallium) b. a polyp or polyp colony together with its membranes and skeleton 2. a piece of coral and especially of red coral 3. a. a bright reddish ovary (as of a lobster or scallop) b. a deep pink • coral adjective • coralloid adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & adj. --n. 1 a a hard red, pink, or white calcareous substance secreted by various marine polyps for support and habitation. b any of these usu. colonial organisms. 2 the unimpregnated roe of a lobster or scallop. --adj. 1 like coral, esp. in colour. 2 made of coral. Phrases and idioms: coral island (or reef) one formed by the growth of coral. coral rag limestone containing beds of petrified corals. coral-snake any of various brightly-coloured poisonous snakes, esp. Micrurus nigrocinctus, native to Central America. Etymology: ME f. OF f. L corallum f. Gk korallion, prob. of Semitic orig.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Coral Cor"al, n. [Of. coral, F, corail, L. corallum, coralium, fr. Gr. kora`llion.] 1. (Zo["o]l.) The hard parts or skeleton of various Anthozoa, and of a few Hydrozoa. Similar structures are also formed by some Bryozoa. Note: The large stony corals forming coral reefs belong to various genera of Madreporaria, and to the hydroid genus, Millepora. The red coral, used in jewelry, is the stony axis of the stem of a gorgonian (Corallium rubrum) found chiefly in the Mediterranean. The fan corals, plume corals, and sea feathers are species of Gorgoniacea, in which the axis is horny. Organ-pipe coral is formed by the genus Tubipora, an Alcyonarian, and black coral is in part the axis of species of the genus Antipathes. See Anthozoa, Madrepora. 2. The ovaries of a cooked lobster; -- so called from their color. 3. A piece of coral, usually fitted with small bells and other appurtenances, used by children as a plaything. Brain coral, or Brain stone coral. See under Brain. Chain coral. See under Chain. Coral animal (Zo["o]l.), one of the polyps by which corals are formed. They are often very erroneously called coral insects. Coral fish. See in the Vocabulary. Coral reefs (Phys. Geog.), reefs, often of great extent, made up chiefly of fragments of corals, coral sands, and the solid limestone resulting from their consolidation. They are classed as fringing reefs, when they border the land; barrier reefs, when separated from the shore by a broad belt of water; atolls, when they constitute separate islands, usually inclosing a lagoon. See Atoll. Coral root (Bot.), a genus (Corallorhiza) of orchideous plants, of a yellowish or brownish red color, parasitic on roots of other plants, and having curious jointed or knotted roots not unlike some kinds of coral. See Illust. under Coralloid. Coral snake. (Zo) (a) A small, venomous, Brazilian snake (Elaps corallinus), coral-red, with black bands. (b) A small, harmless, South American snake (Tortrix scytale). Coral tree (Bot.), a tropical, leguminous plant, of several species, with showy, scarlet blossoms and coral-red seeds. The best known is Erythrina Corallodendron. Coral wood, a hard, red cabinet wood. --McElrath.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(corals) 1. Coral is a hard substance formed from the bones of very small sea animals. It is often used to make jewellery. The women have elaborate necklaces of turquoise and pink coral. N-VAR 2. Corals are very small sea animals. N-COUNT 3. Something that is coral is dark orangey-pink in colour. ...coral lipstick. ...the coral-colored flower buds. COLOUR

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Heb. ramoth, meaning "heights;" i.e., "high-priced" or valuable things, or, as some suppose, "that which grows high," like a tree (Job 28:18; Ezek. 27:16), according to the Rabbins, red coral, which was in use for ornaments.

The coral is a cretaceous marine product, the deposit by minute polypous animals of calcareous matter in cells in which the animal lives. It is of numberless shapes as it grows, but usually is branched like a tree. Great coral reefs and coral islands abound in the Red Sea, whence probably the Hebrews derived their knowledge of it. It is found of different colours, white, black, and red. The red, being esteemed the most precious, was used, as noticed above, for ornamental purposes.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

kor'-al (ra'moth, peninim): The red coral or precious coral, Corallium rubrum, is confined to the Mediterranean and Adriatic seas. It is the calcareous axis of a branching colony of polyps. It does not form reefs, but occurs in small masses from 40 to 100 fathoms below the surface. It differs totally in structure from the white corals which form coral reefs, belonging to the order of Octactinia or Eight-rayed Polyps, while the reef-building corals belong to the Hexactinia or Six-rayed Polyps.

Ra'moth, apparently from r. ra'am, "to be high" (compare rum, "to be high"), occurs in three passages. In Pr 24:7, EVV have "too high": "Wisdom is too high for a fool." In Job 28:12-19, where various precious things are compared with wisdom, English Versions of the Bible has "coral"(King James Version, margin "Ramoth"). It is mentioned here along with ceghor, "gold" (the Revised Version, margin "treasure"); kethem, "gold of Ophir"; shoham, "onyx" (the Revised Version, margin "beryl"); cappir, "sapphire"; zahabh, "gold"; zekhukhith, "crystal" (the Revised Version (British and American) "glass"); paz, "gold"; gabhish, "pearls" (the Revised Version (British and American) "crystal"); peninim, "rubies" (the Revised Version, margin "red coral" or "pearls"); piTedhah, "topaz." While the real meaning of some of these terms is doubtful (see STONES, PRECIOUS), they all, including ra'moth, appear to be precious stones or metals. In Eze 27:16, ra'moth occurs with nophekh, "emeralds" (the Revised Version, margin "carbuncles"); 'argaman, "purple"; riqmah, "broidered work"; buts, "fine linen"; kadhkodh, "agate"(King James Version, margin "chrysoprase," the Revised Version (British and American) "rubies"). Here the context does not require a precious stone or metal, and Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A. D.) has sericum, i. e. "Chinese material" or "silk." Notwithstanding, therefore, the traditional rendering, "coral," the real meaning of ra'moth must be admitted to be doubtful.

Peninim (from the root panan, "to divide up," "to separate"; compare Arabic fanan, "a branch of a tree") occurs in Job 28:18; Pr 3:15; 8:11; 20:15; 31:10; La 4:7. In all these passages English Versions of the Bible has "rubies" (Job 28:18, the Revised Version, margin "red coral" or "pearls"; La 4:7, the Revised Version, margin "corals"). Everywhere a precious substance is indicated, but nowhere does the context give any light as to the nature of the substance, except in La 4:7, where we have the statement that the nobles of Jerusalem "were more ruddy in body" than peninim. This and the etymology favor a branching red substance such as precious coral. The occurrence of peninim and ra'moth together in Job 28:18 is, if we give the precedence to peninim, a further argument against ra'moth meaning "coral."

Alfred Ely Day