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Any of various hard corals of the genus Madrepora or of the order Scleractinia (formerly Madreporaria).

[Italian madrepora : madre, mother (from Latin māter, mātr-; see māter- in Indo-European roots) + -pora (alteration of poro, tufa, pore, from Late Latin porus, passageway; see pore2, or from Latin pōrus, calcareous stone, stalactite, from Greek pōros).]

mad′re·po′ri·an adj.
mad′re·por′ic adj.


(Zoology) 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]
ˌmadreˈporal, madreporic, madreporitic, ˌmadreˈporian adj


(ˈmæd rəˌpɔr, -ˌpoʊr)

any coral of the order Madreporaria forming reefs or islands in tropical seas.
[1745–55; < French]
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.madrepore - corals having calcareous skeletons aggregations of which form reefs and islandsmadrepore - corals having calcareous skeletons aggregations of which form reefs and islands
brain coral - massive reef-building coral having a convoluted and furrowed surface
staghorn coral, stag's-horn coral - large branching coral resembling antlers
mushroom coral - flattened disk-shaped stony coral (usually solitary and unattached)
References in periodicals archive ?
brasiliensis, the madreporite and odontophore are homologous to those of other recent, non-paxillosid asteroids, and follow the Late Madreporic Mode.