sea feather

9.9

A coral that grows in feathery groups on warm ocean reefs

noun

: pluma de mar

The sea feather swayed gently in the current.

Examples

The museum had a preserved sea feather on display, showing its intricate structure.
Many sea feathers thrive in the Caribbean Sea.
Divers admired the vibrant sea feather colonies swaying gently on the coral reef.
Some species of sea feather provide shelter for small fish and marine invertebrates.
The diver marveled at the vibrant colors of the sea feather gently swaying in the current.
During the snorkeling trip, we observed a sea feather gracefully filtering plankton from the water.
The aquarium displayed a stunning collection of marine life, including a beautiful sea feather that resembled a delicate plume.

Synonyms

sea pen

vssea feather

Specialized

9.8

A marine animal like a feather made of many tiny animals on the sea floor

is a coral type forming plume-like colonies rather than a soft pennatulacean animal

Surface Forms

sea feather singular

sea feathers plural

Morphology

sea + feather

The compound combines 'sea' (location) and 'feather' (feathery appearance), so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer it refers to a feather-like thing in the sea (i.e., feathery coral/plume). This descriptive compounding is transparent and cross-linguistically common, making the specific meaning predictable from the constituents.

Etymology

Sea feather comes from the coral's look: the word sea shows it lives in the ocean and feather describes its long, feathery branches that wave like a bird's feather in the water. So, sea feather now means a feathery coral colony found in warm seas.