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Glite Dictionary
precious coral

precious coral

7.5
A hard red or pink stony skeleton from Mediterranean sea animals used for jewelry
  • noun
  • /ˈprɛʃəs ˈkɔrəl/
translation icon : coral precioso
  • Many artisans strive to create unique pieces using rare precious coral for their jewelry collections.
  • precious coral fishery
  • precious coral industry
  • species of precious coral

Examples

  • The jeweler showcased a stunning necklace made from beautiful precious coral at the exhibition.

  • Realizing that precious corals were in trouble, leading jewelry manufacturer Tiffany & Co. stopped using them in 2002.

    Academic text (2009)

  • At the retail level today, the precious coral industry is valued at about $25 million and consists of about 100 retailers.

    Academic text (1993)

  • Nevertheless, as a result of this discovery, interest in precious coral resources dramatically increased in Hawaii.

    Academic text (1993)

  • The mariculture of precious corals is an exciting new area of research.

    Academic text (1993)

  • Overall, the precious coral industry in Hawaii has steadily grown over the past 34 years since its inception.

    Academic text (1993)

  • Precious corals have been used by humans for the fabrication of coral jewelry since antiquity (Grigg, 1989).

    Academic text (1993)

  • I admired the intricately carved figurines crafted from precious coral in the shop window.

Synonyms

red coral
vsprecious coral
5.6

A hard red or pink piece from a sea animal used for jewelry

is specifically the stony skeleton from certain Mediterranean marine animals not the living creature
Corallium
vsprecious coral
  • Specialized
9.9

A red or pink coral from the Mediterranean Sea used for jewelry

is the material itself rather than the taxonomic group of species

Surface Forms

precious coral singular
precious corals plural

Morphology

precious + coral

The phrase is a straightforward adjective + noun composition: 'precious' (valuable, rare) modifying 'coral' (the stony skeleton used in jewelry), so the meaning 'valuable/ornamental coral' is directly derivable from the parts. This is a common, cross-linguistic modifier pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily understand the MWE.

Etymology

Precious coral comes from sea animals that make hard, red parts called coral that look like small stones. People used these for jewelry, so the name precious shows they were seen as 'valuable'.