# coral
## English
### Etymology 1

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.

#### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈkɒɹəl/
** Audio (Southern England):(file)
* (General American) IPA: /ˈkɔɚɹəl/
** Homophone: choral
** Audio (US):(file)
* (General Australian) IPA: /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 color; the color 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 color.
* (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
#### Adjective

coral (not comparable)
* Made of coral.
* Having the orange-pink color of coral.

##### 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 aloe
* coral bean (Erythrina herbacea)
* coral bells (Heuchera)
* coral berry/coralberry (Aechmea fulgens, Ardisia crenata, Ilex verticillata, Symphoricarpos orbiculatus)
* coral bleaching
* coralbush (Jatropha multifida)
* coraled
* coral fern (Gleichenia spp.)
* coralfish (Chaetodontidae spp.)
* coral fungus
* Coral Gables
* coral heath (Epacris microphylla)
* coral insect
* coralise, coralize
* coral island
* corallaceous
* coraller
* corallet
* corallian
* coralliferous
* coralliform
* coralligenous
* coralligerous
* corallike
* coralline
* corallite
* corallivore
* corallivorous
* coralloid
* coralloidal
* corally
* coralology
* coral plant
* coral rag
* coral reef
* coralroot (Corallorhiza; Cardamine bulbifera)
* Coral Sea
* coral snake (in family Elapidae)
* Coral Springs
* coral stitch
* coral tree (Erythrina spp.)
* coral trout (Plectropomus leopardus)
* coralwood (Adenanthera pavonina; Guibourtia spp.)
* coralwort
* 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)
* golfball coral (Agaricites humilis)
* great star coral (Montastaea cavernosa)
* hard coral (Scleractinia spp.)
* Hawaiian gold coral (Kulamanamana haumeaae)
* hexacoral (Hexacorallia spp.)
* honeycomb coral (†Favosites et al. spp.)
* horn coral (†Rugosa spp.)
* horny coral (Gorgonacea spp.)
* hydrocoral, hydroid coral (Milleporina and Stylasterina spp.)
* Indian coral tree
* ivory bush coral (Oculina varicosa)
* ivory coral (Oculinidae spp.)
* lace coral (Fenestellidae spp.)
* Lamarck's sheet coral (Agaricites lamarcki)
* leaf coral (Bossea orbigniana)
* lettuce corals (Agaricia spp.)
* madreporian coral (Scleractinia spp.)
* moss coral (Bryozoa spp.)
* mushroom coral (Fungiidae spp.)
* noncoral
* octocoral (Alcyonaria 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)

##### Translations
#### See also

* atoll
* barrier reef
* dactylozooid
* fringing reef
* gonophore
* gorgonian
* Great Barrier Reef
* madrepore
* millepore
* sea fan
* sea whip
* Appendix:Colors

### Etymology 2
#### Noun

coral (plural corals)
* Obsolete form of corral.

#### Verb

coral (third-person singular simple present corals, present participle coralling or (US) coraling, simple past and past participle coralled or (US) coraled)
* Obsolete form of corral.

### References

* coral on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
* ↑ 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

### Anagrams

* claro, Carol, Clora, Carlo, Alcor, Claro, carol

## Asturian
### Etymology 1

From Old Leonese cor, from a derivative of Latin cor with a group suffix -al. Doublet of corazu, corazón, and cuer.

#### Noun

coral f (plural corales) or corales
* heart
    Synonyms: corazu, corazón, cuer
    La coral asítiase nel llau esquierdu'l pechuThe heart is located on the left side of the chest

### Etymology 2

Borrowed from Spanish coral.

#### Noun

coral f (plural corales)
* chorus music
* chorale

### Etymology 3

Borrowed from Spanish coral.

#### Noun

coral m (plural corales)
* coral

## Catalan
### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central) [kuˈɾal]
* IPA: (Balearic, Valencia) [koˈɾal]

### Etymology 1

From cor (“heart”) +‎ -al.

#### Adjective

coral m or f (masculine and feminine plural corals)
* strong, close (relationship)

### Etymology 2

From cor (“choir”) +‎ -al.

#### Adjective

coral m or f (masculine and feminine plural corals)
* choral

#### Noun

coral m (plural corals)
* chorus music
* chorale

### Etymology 3

Borrowed from Latin corallium, from Ancient Greek κοράλλιον (korállion).

#### Noun

coral m (plural corals)
* coral (organism)

##### Derived terms

* arbre de coral

## Galician
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /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 ouroI 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)

### Etymology 2

coro (“choir”) +‎ -al.

#### Adjective

coral m or f (plural corais)
* choral

#### Noun

coral f (plural corais)
* chorale

### References

* Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “coral”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “coral”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “coral”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “coral”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “coral”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

## Old Spanish
### Etymology

Borrowed from Old French coral, from Latin corallium, from Ancient Greek κοράλλιον (korállion).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /koˈɾal/

### Noun

coral m (plural corales)
* coral
** c. 1250, Alfonso X, Lapidario, f. 14v:DEl dozeno grado del ſigno de tauro es la piedra aque dizen coral negro.Of the twelfth degree of the sign of Taurus is the stone they call black coral.

#### Descendants

* Ladino: koral
* Spanish: coral

## Portuguese
### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /koˈɾaw/ [koˈɾaʊ̯]
* (Portugal) IPA: /kuˈɾal/ [kuˈɾaɫ]
* (Portugal) IPA: /kuˈɾal/ [kuˈɾaɫ]
** (Southern Portugal) IPA: /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)
* (music) choir (ensemble of people who sing together)
    Synonym: coro
* (music) choral song (song written for a choir to perform)
* (music) chorale (a Lutheran hymn)
* (figurative) a group of people, creatures or objects making noise together

#### Adjective

coral m or f (plural corais)
* (music) choral (relating to choirs)
* (music) choral (written to be performed by a choir)

### Etymology 2

From Late Latin corallum or Latin corallium, from Ancient Greek κοράλλιον (korállion, “coral”), of uncertain origin.

#### Noun

coral m (plural corais)
* coral (any of various species of anthozoans)
* coral (the skeleton of marine polyps)
* coral (colony of marine polyps)
* coral (a yellowish pink color)

#### Noun

coral f (plural corais)
* Ellipsis of cobra-coral.

#### Adjective

coral m or f (plural corais)
* coral in color
    Synonym: coralino

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French choral.

### Adjective

coral m or n (feminine singular corală, masculine plural corali, feminine and neuter plural corale)
* choral

#### Declension
## Spanish
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /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).

#### Noun

coral m (plural corales)
* (zoology) coral
* (botany) coral vine (Kennedia coccinea)

##### Derived terms

* arrecife de coral (“coral reef”)
* coral blando
* coral cerebro
* coral de jardín
* coral pétreo
* Gran Barrera de Coral

#### Adjective

coral m or f (masculine and feminine plural corales)
* coral (color)

### Etymology 2

From coro (“choir”) +‎ -al.

#### Adjective

coral m or f (masculine and feminine plural corales)
* choral

##### Derived terms

* coralmente

#### Noun

coral m (plural corales)
* chorale

### Further reading

* “coral”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10