madrepore

[Fr. madrépore; Ital. madre por a, from madre = mother, and Gr. poros = tuff stone ( Littré ); or the first element may be Fr. madré=spotted; O. Fr. madre, mazre a kind of knotty wood with brown spots; O. H. Ger. mosar; N. H. Ger. maser =a knot, grain, or vein in wood, a speck. ( Mahn.)] 1. Strictly : The English name of the genus Madrepora. 2. Loosely: Any coral distinguished by superficial star-shaped cavities. ( Lyell .) The Common Madrepore of the Devons hire coast is Caryophyllia smithii. -ic .] măd-rě-pör-ic, adj . [Eng., ., madrepor ( e ); Zool: Pierced with minute holes like a madrepore; madre por i form (q. v.). "The one nearest the madreporic inter-radius." -Rol lest on: Forms of Animal Life , p. 144.