madreporite

[ mad-ruh-pawr-ahyt, -pohr-, muh-drep-uh-rahyt ]

noun

1. a sievelike plate in certain echinoderms, through which water passes into the vascular system.

Word History and Origins

Origin of madreporite¹

First recorded in 1795–1805; madrepore + -ite ¹

Example Sentences

They draw in seawater through a porous spot called a madreporite located on the top surface of the body.

From Scientific American

There are five prominent mouth-shields and a separate madreporite on the ventral surface.

From Project Gutenberg

Sir R. Murchison, whose much more close and extensive acquaintance with fossils enabled him to assign to the deposit its true place, was struck, however, with the general resemblance of its polypifers to "those of the Madreporite Limestone of the Carboniferous series."

From Project Gutenberg