coral

US /ˈkɔɚɹəl/ UK /ˈkɒɹəl/ See IPA manual

Freq #9145

Meanings

1

noun
A hard, stony substance formed in the sea by tiny animals, often building large reefs.

Divers swam past the bright coral on the reef.
2

noun
A pinkish-orange color, like that of red coral.

She painted the walls a soft coral.
3

adj
Having a pinkish-orange color.

She wore a coral dress to the party.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms corals

Derived forms coralberrycoralbushcoraledcoralfishcoralisecoralizecorallaceouscorallercoralletcoralliancoralliferouscoralliform

Related forms atolldactylozooidgonophoregorgonianmadreporemillepore

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

coral reef
an underwater ridge built from the accumulated hard material produced by corals

Noun + noun

Etymology

From Old French coral (French corail), from Latin corallium, from Ancient Greek κοράλλιον (korállion, “coral”). Probably ultimately of Semitic origin, 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). Beekes mentions both theories and considers the Semitic one convincing.

coral Old French corallium Latin κοράλλιον Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Materials & Substances

External links

# coral

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun, adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈkɔɚɹəl/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈkɒɹəl/
**Frequency rank:** 9145

## Meanings
1. A hard, stony substance formed in the sea by tiny animals, often building large reefs.
2. A pinkish-orange color, like that of red coral.
3. Having a pinkish-orange color.

## Examples
- Divers swam past the bright coral on the reef.
- She painted the walls a soft coral.
- She wore a coral dress to the party.

## Derived Forms
- coralberry
- coralbush
- coraled
- coralfish
- coralise
- coralize
- corallaceous
- coraller
- corallet
- corallian
- coralliferous
- coralliform

## Related Forms
- atoll
- dactylozooid
- gonophore
- gorgonian
- madrepore
- millepore

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: coral
- Root: corallium
- Root: κοράλλιον

## Etymology
From Old French coral (French corail), from Latin corallium, from Ancient Greek κοράλλιον (korállion, “coral”). Probably ultimately of Semitic origin, 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). Beekes mentions both theories and considers the Semitic one convincing.

## AI Etymology
coral comes from Old French coral (French corail), from Latin corallium, from Ancient Greek κοράλλιον (korállion, “coral”). Probably ultimately of Semitic origin, 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). Beekes mentions both theories and considers the Semitic one convincing. Current senses include A hard, stony substance formed in the sea by tiny animals, often building large reefs and A pinkish-orange color, like that of red coral. English relatives and later formations include coralberry, coralbush, coraled, atoll, dactylozooid.

## Topics
- Materials & Substances

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