coral

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]

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒɹəl/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔɚɹəl/
  • Homophone: choral

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔɹəl/
• Rhymes: -ɒɹəl, -ɔːɹəl

coral (countable and uncountable, plural corals)

1. (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.
2. (uncountable) A hard substance made of the skeletons of these organisms.
3. (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 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.

4. The ovaries of a cooked lobster; so called from their color.
5. (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.

coral (not comparable)

1. Made of coral.
2. Having the orange-pink color of coral.

• coral on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

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

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

coral f (plural corales) or corales

1. heart

   Synonyms: corazu, corazón, cuer

   La coral asítiase nel llau esquierdu'l pechu

   The heart is located on the left side of the chest

Borrowed from Spanish coral.

coral f (plural corales)

1. chorus music
2. chorale

Borrowed from Spanish coral.

coral m (plural corales)

1. coral

• IPA^(key): (Central)
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia)

From cor (“heart”) +‎ -al.

coral m or f (masculine and feminine plural corals)

1. strong, close (relationship)

From cor (“choir”) +‎ -al.

coral m or f (masculine and feminine plural corals)

1. choral

coral m (plural corals)

1. chorus music
2. chorale

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

coral m (plural corals)

1. coral (organism)

• arbre de coral

• IPA^(key): /koˈɾal/

From Old Galician-Portuguese coral, borrowed from Old French coral, from Latin corallium, from Ancient Greek κοράλλιον (korállion).

coral m (plural corais)

1. (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

2. coral (color)
3. roe (the eggs or ovaries of certain crustaceans)

   Synonym: míllaras

4. sea fan (Eunicella verrucosa)

coro (“choir”) +‎ -al.

coral m or f (plural corais)

1. choral

coral f (plural corais)

1. chorale

• 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: ILG
• 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

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

• IPA^(key): /koˈɾal/

coral m (plural corales)

1. 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.

• Ladino: koral
• Spanish: coral

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: co‧ral

Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin chorālis. By surface analysis, coro +‎ -al.

• choral (obsolete)

coral m (plural corais)

1. (music) choir (ensemble of people who sing together)

   Synonym: coro

2. (music) choral song (song written for a choir to perform)
3. (music) chorale (a Lutheran hymn)
4. (figurative) a group of people, creatures or objects making noise together

coral m or f (plural corais)

1. (music) choral (relating to choirs)
2. (music) choral (written to be performed by a choir)

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

coral m (plural corais)

1. coral (any of various species of anthozoans)
2. coral (the skeleton of marine polyps)
3. coral (colony of marine polyps)
4. coral (a yellowish pink color)

coral f (plural corais)

1. Ellipsis of cobra-coral.

coral m or f (plural corais)

1. coral in color

   Synonym: coralino

Borrowed from French choral.

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

1. choral

• IPA^(key): /koˈɾal/
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: co‧ral

Spanish Wikipedia has an article on:

coral

Wikipedia ^es

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

coral m (plural corales)

1. (zoology) coral
2. (botany) coral vine (Kennedia coccinea)

coral m or f (masculine and feminine plural corales)

1. coral (color)

From coro (“choir”) +‎ -al.

coral m or f (masculine and feminine plural corales)

1. choral

coral m (plural corales)

1. chorale

• “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