🇨🇳Chinese Source WordCode: ZH

珊瑚礁

Pronunciation / Transliteration: shān hú jiāo

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Coral reef/ˈkɔːr.əl riːf/
nounCEFR B2 (Upper)Top #14500 frequency
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🇨🇳 Example Sentence in Chinese:

"潜水员正在探索美丽的珊瑚礁。"

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As noun
  1. 1

    A ridge of jagged rock, coral, or similar material beneath the surface of the ocean, formed by the growth and accumulation of stony coral skeletons.

    "Dolphins swam near the vibrant coral reef teeming with tropical fish."
  2. 2

    An extensive underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals and housing a vast diversity of marine life.

    "Climate change and rising ocean temperatures pose a severe threat to the survival of the world's coral reefs."

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Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

The term combines 'coral', derived from the Latin 'corallium' and Greek 'korallion' referring to marine skeletons, and 'reef', originating from Old Norse 'rif' meaning a rib, ridge, or reef of rocks. Together, the compound noun emerged in modern English scientific and maritime literature to describe underwater ridges formed by the calcium carbonate secretions of coral polyps.

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