coral
English
Etymology
From Old French coral (French corail), from Latin corallium, from Ancient Greek κοράλλιον (korállion, “coral”). Probably ultimately of Semitic origin,[1] compare Hebrew גּוֹרָל (goral, “small pebble”), Arabic جَرَل (jaral, “small stone”), originally referring to the red variety found in the Mediterranean. Since ancient times, a common folk etymology, accepted by some earlier scholars, connected the word instead to Ancient Greek κόρη (kórē) (referring to Medusa).[2][3][4] Beekes mentions both theories and considers the Semitic one convincing.[5]
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈkɒɹəl/
Audio (Southern England) (file)
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈkɔɚɹəl/
- Homophone: choral
Audio (US, homophonous to “choral”) (file)
- (General Australian) IPA(key): /ˈkɔɹəl/
- Rhymes: -ɒɹəl, -ɔːɹəl
Noun
coral (countable and uncountable, plural corals)
- (countable) Any of many species of marine invertebrates in the class Anthozoa, most of which build hard calcium carbonate skeletons and form colonies, or a colony belonging to one of those species.
- (uncountable) A hard substance made of the skeletons of these organisms.
- (countable) A somewhat yellowish orange-pink colour; the colour of red coral (Corallium rubrum) of the Mediterranean Sea, commonly used as an ornament or gem.
- coral:
- 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
- The coral faded even from her lips, till they were as white as Leo's face, and quivered pitifully.
- The ovaries of a cooked lobster; so called from their colour.
- (historical) A piece of coral, usually fitted with small bells and other appurtenances, used by children as a plaything.
- 1859, Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White:
- On the very chair which I used to occupy when I was at work Marian was sitting now, with the child industriously sucking his coral upon her lap.
Translations
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Adjective
coral (not comparable)
- Made of coral.
- Having the orange-pink colour of coral.
Translations
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Derived terms
- angel skin coral (Corallium secundum et al.)
- bamboo coral (Isididae)
- black coral (Antipatharia spp.)
- blue coral (Helicopora coerulea)
- brain coral, brainstone coral (in families Mussidae and Merulinidae)
- branch coral (Acropora florida)
- bubblegum coral (Paragorgia arborea)
- burrowing false coral (Aniliidae spp.)
- cactus coral (Mussidae spp.)
- chain coral (†Halysites spp.)
- coral bean (Erythrina herbacea)
- coral berry/coralberry (Aechmea fulgens, Ardisia crenata, Ilex verticillata, Symphoricarpos orbiculatus)
- coral bleaching
- coral fern
- coral fungus
- Coral Gables
- coral heath
- coral insect
- coral island
- coralology
- coral reef
- Coral Sea
- Coral Sea Islands Territory
- coral snake (in family Elapidae)
- Coral Springs
- coral tree (genus Erythrina)
- coral trout (Plectropomus leopardus)
- coral bells (Heuchera)
- coralberry
- coralise/coralize
- corallaceous
- corallet
- corallian
- coralliferous
- coralliform
- coralligenous
- coralligerous
- corallike
- coralline
- corallite
- corallivore
- coralloid
- coralloidal
- corally
- coralroot (Corallorhiza; Cardamine bulbifera)
- cup coral (Balanophyllia bonaespei, Turbinaria spp.)
- dusty coral
- elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata)
- fan coral (Gorgonia et al. spp.)
- favid coral (Mussidae spp.)
- feather coral (†Tetracoralla or †Rugosa spp.)
- finger coral (Millepora alcicornis)
- fire coral (Millepora spp.)
- ginger coral (Millepora alcicornis)
- great star coral (Montastaea cavernosa)
- golfball coral (Agaricites humilis)
- hard coral (Scleractinia spp.)
- Hawaiian gold coral (Kulamanamana haumeaae)
- honeycomb coral (†Favosites et al. spp.)
- horn coral (†Rugosa spp.)
- horny coral (Gorgonacea spp.)
- hydrocoral, hydroid coral (Milleporina and Stylasterina spp.)
- ivory bush coral (Oculina varicosa)
- ivory coral (Oculinidae spp.)
- lace coral (Fenestellidae spp.)
- leaf coral (Bossea orbigniana)
- Lamarck's sheet coral (Agaricites lamarcki)
- lettuce corals (Agaricia spp.)
- madreporian coral (Scleractinia spp.)
- moss coral (Bryozoa spp.)
- mushroom coral (Fungiidae spp.)
- old coral
- open brain coral (Trachyphyllia geoffroyi)
- organ-pipe coral, organ coral (Tubipora spp.)
- pillar coral (Denrogyra cylindrus))
- pink coral
- precious coral (= red coral)
- purple coral (Alloclavaria purpurea)
- red coral (Corallium rubrum et al.)
- rose coral (Agaricia tenuifolia)
- scroll coral (Agaricia undata)
- sea whip coral (Gorgonacea spp.)
- seed coral
- skull coral
- soft coral (Alcyonacea spp.)
- staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis)
- star coral (Orbicella et al. spp.)
- stone coral, stony coral (Scleractinia spp.)
- sunflower coral (Receptaculites spp.)
- tabulate coral (Tabulata spp.)
- thorny coral (Antipatharia spp.)
- tooth coral (Mussidae spp.)
- tree coral (Oculinidae spp.)
- true coral (Madreporaria)
- tube coral (Agaricia agaricites)
- whip coral (Gorgonacea spp.)
- white coral (Amphihelia oculata)
- coral plant
- coral rag
- coral stitch
- Indian coral tree
See also
References
- Lewy, Heinrich (1895) Die semitischen Fremdwörter im Griechischen (in German), Berlin: R. Gaertner’s Verlagsbuchhandlung, pages 18–19
- See e.g. Lithica (one of the Orphic poems), 510-610, and Pliny the Elder, Natural History, book XXXII, line 11.
- C. W. King, The Natural History of Gems or Decorative Stones, 1867, Bell & Daldy, London, pp. 100–101.
- Liddell and Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, Harpers & Brothers, New York, 1846, p. 792.
- Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN
Asturian
Etymology 1
From Old Leonese cor, from a derivative of Latin cor with a group suffix -al.
Noun
coral f (plural coralis) or corales
- heart
- La coral asítiase nel tsau esquierdu'r pechu
- The heart is located on the left side of the chest
Etymology 2
Borrowed from Spanish coral.
Etymology 3
Borrowed from Spanish coral.
Catalan
Etymology 3
Borrowed from Latin corallium, from Ancient Greek κοράλλιον (korállion).
Galician
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /koˈɾal/
Etymology 1
From Old Galician-Portuguese coral, borrowed from Old French coral, from Latin corallium, from Ancient Greek κοράλλιον (korállion).
Noun
coral m (plural corais)
- (zoology) coral
- 1395, Antonio López Ferreiro, editor, Galicia Histórica. Colección diplomática, Santiago: Tipografía Galaica, page 160:
- mando a miña Neta Tareija sanches todo o aliofar et coraes que eu ey et os esmaltes et o meu Reliquario esmaltado et a miña Cunca de plata dourada et as miñas doas de ouro
- I send to my granddaughter Tareixa Sanchez all of my pearls and corals, and the enamels, and my enamelled relicary and my gilded silver bowl and my beads of gold
- coral (color)
- roe (the eggs or ovaries of certain crustaceans)
- Synonym: míllaras
- sea fan (Eunicella verrucosa)
References
- “coral” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006–2022.
- “coral” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006–2018.
- “coral” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
- “coral” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
- “coral” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.
Old Spanish
Etymology
Borrowed from Old French coral, from Latin corallium, from Ancient Greek κοράλλιον (korállion).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /koˈɾal/
Noun
coral m (plural corales)
Portuguese
Pronunciation
- (Brazil) IPA(key): /koˈɾaw/ [koˈɾaʊ̯]
- (Portugal) IPA(key): /kuˈɾal/ [kuˈɾaɫ]
- (Southern Portugal) IPA(key): /kuˈɾa.li/
- Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
- Hyphenation: co‧ral
Etymology 1
Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin chorālis. By surface analysis, coro + -al.
Alternative forms
- choral (obsolete)
Noun
coral m (plural corais)
Adjective
coral m or f (plural corais)
Etymology 2
From Late Latin corallum or Latin corallium, from Ancient Greek κοράλλιον (korállion, “coral”), of uncertain origin.
Noun
coral m (plural corais)
Romanian
Adjective
coral m or n (feminine singular corală, masculine plural corali, feminine and neuter plural corale)
Declension
Spanish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /koˈɾal/ [koˈɾal]
- Rhymes: -al
- Syllabification: co‧ral
Etymology 1
Inherited from Old Spanish coral, from Old French coral, from Latin corallium, from Ancient Greek κοράλλιον (korállion).
Derived terms
Derived terms
Further reading
- “coral”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014