First Known Use: 1878
Dictionary
alcyonarian
noun al·cy·o·nar·ian \ˌal-sē-ə-ˈner-ē-ən\
Definition of ALCYONARIAN
: any of a subclass (Alcyonaria) of colonial anthozoans (as the sea pens) having polyps with eight branched tentacles and eight septa
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Origin of ALCYONARIAN
ultimately from Greek alkyoneion, a zoophyte, from neuter of alkyoneios of a kingfisher, from alkyon kingfisher; from its resemblance to a kingfisher's nest
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