coral: [14] Coral may ultimately be of Semitic origin (Hebrew gōrāl ‘pebble’ has been compared), but the first record we have of it is as Greek korállion, which came to English via Latin corallum or corallium and Old French coral. Until the 17th century, the word was applied exclusively to the red coral (Corallium nobile); hence its use, since the early 16th century, for a ‘rich red colour’.
c. 1300, from Old French coral (12c., Modern French corail), from Latin corallium, from Greek korallion; perhaps of Semitic origin (compare Hebrew goral "small pebble," Arabic garal "small stone"), originally just the red variety found in the Mediterranean, hence use of the word as a symbol of "red." Related: Coralline. Coral snake (1760) is so called for the red zones in its markings. Coral reef is attested from 1745.
双语例句
1. Although the coral looks hard, it is very delicate.
珊瑚虽然看上去坚固，实际上非常易碎。
来自柯林斯例句
2. These snails do not occur on low-lying coral islands or atolls.
在地势低平的珊瑚岛或环礁上没有这种螺。
来自柯林斯例句
3. A coral reef is built by the accretion of tiny, identical organisms.
