from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Madrepore \Mad"re*pore\, n. [F. madrepore, perh. fr. madr['e]
spotted, fr. OF. madre, mazre, a kind of knotty wood with
brown spots, fr. OHG. masar a knot, grain, or vein in wood, a
speck, G. maser + pore (see {Pore}); or perh. F. madr['e]pore
is rather from It. madrepora, and this perh. fr. It. madre
mother (see {Mother}) + Gr. ? a soft stone.] (Zool.)
Any coral of the genus {Madrepora}, a group of corals having
calcareous skeletons aggregations of which form reefs and
islands; formerly, often applied to any stony coral.
Syn: stony coral, madriporian coral.
[1913 Webster]