lithophyton
English
editEtymology
editFrom Modern Latin lithophyton, from Ancient Greek roots λίθος (líthos, “stone”) + φυτόν (phutón, “plant”).
Noun
editlithophyton (plural lithophyta)
- (obsolete) Coral.
- 1646, Sir Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, II.5:
- That Coral (which is a Lithophyton or stone-plant, and groweth at the bottom of the Sea) is soft under Water, but waxeth hard in the air […] we have some reason to doubt […]
References
edit- “‖lithophyton” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd Ed.; 1989]