madreporite

English

Etymology

From madrepore +‎ -ite; the echinoderm sense is in reference to how it resembles the coral.

Pronunciation
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˌmædɹəˈpɔɹaɪt/

Noun

madreporite (plural madreporites)

  1. (zoology) A calcareous opening in the body of echinoderms which connects the water vascular system to the environment.
  2. (archaic, paleontology) A fossil stony coral, or a deposit composed of the same.
    • 1839, Report of the progress of the Geological Survey for the year 1839‎:
      a similar Madreporite deposite is noticed a few feet above the coal seam
    • 1943, “Publications‎ of the Folklore Society (Great Britain)”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), page 138:
      Whether madreporite occurs naturally in Spain, I do not know
    • 1989, Archives of Natural History‎, page 199:
      Madreporite was regarded as a variety of calcite and anthraconite a lamellar variety of madreporite

References
  • madreporite in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
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