Gorgonian

American  

[gawr-goh-nee-uhn] / gɔrˈgoʊ ni ən /

noun

1. any of numerous alcyonarian corals of the order Gorgonacea, having a usually branching, horny or calcareous skeleton.

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adjective

1. belonging or pertaining to the Gorgonacea.

gorgonian ¹ British  

/ ɡɔːˈɡəʊnɪən /

noun

1. any coral of the order Gorgonacea, having a horny or calcareous branching skeleton: includes the sea fans and red corals

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or belonging to the Gorgonacea

Gorgonian ² British  

/ ɡɔːˈɡəʊnɪən /

adjective

1. of or resembling a Gorgon

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Etymology

Origin of Gorgonian

1825–35; < New Latin Gorgoni ( a ) genus name ( Gorgon, -ia ) + -an

Example Sentences

In 15 ingenious novels of suspense and intrigue, his protagonists�in Ambler land, there are few heroes�are almost invariably decent, intelligent, well-bred men more or less unwittingly enmeshed in Gorgonian webs of political and financial conspiracy.

From Time Magazine Archive

He grounds this opinion on what is said by Statius and Sebosus, that certain islands called Hesperides lay forty days sail west from the Gorgonian islands on the coast of Africa.

From A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 03 Arranged in Systematic Order: Forming a Complete History of the Origin and Progress of Navigation, Discovery, and Commerce, by Sea and Land, from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time by Kerr, Robert

Tritonian Pallas is planted in glittering halo and Gorgonian terror.

From The Aeneid of Virgil by Virgil

Thereon was Strife, thereon Fortitude, and thereon was chilling Pursuit; 228 on it was the Gorgonian head of the dreadful monster, dire, horrible, a portent of ægis-bearing Jove.

From The Iliad of Homer (1873) by Buckley, Theodore Alois

Far off from these a flow and silent Stream Lethe the River of Oblivion rolls; Which Medusa with Gorgonian Terror guards.

From An Essay on Criticism by Oldmixon, John