Atolls

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A circular or oval island formed from coral, encircling a lagoon, commonly found in tropical regions
2. These landforms consist of coral reefs surrounding a calm lagoon, typically emerging from volcanic activity
3. Islands shaped like rings made of coral that surround a central lagoon in warm ocean waters

Etymology: The word comes from the Maldives, where the Dhivehi "atoḷu" named these ring-shaped reefs long before English speakers had a term for them. Portuguese sailors, who reached the Indian Ocean in the late fifteenth century, borrowed it as "atol," and English took it from there. The Dhivehi word is thought to descend from a Prakrit form, "saṃtīṭha," built from Sanskrit "sam," meaning level, and "tīrtha," meaning ford, so the original sense was roughly "level ford," a shallow crossing where a lagoon meets the sea. A more romantic explanation, that the word means "water-hillock" from Persian "âb-tal," is considered unlikely by specialists, though it has circulated widely. The plural "atolls" is simply the standard English plural of "atoll."