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atoll

UK/ˈætɒl/ US/əˈtɒl/ rare

noun

1.

an island consisting of a circular coral reef surrounding a lagoon

Origin

Borrowed from Portuguese atol, from Dhivehi އަތޮޅު (atoḷu), possibly from Prakrit *𑀲𑀁𑀢𑀻𑀞 (*saṃtīṭha), from Sanskrit सम्- (sam-) + तीर्थ (tīrtha) “level ford”. The traditional etymology from Persian آبتل (âb-tal, “water-hillock”) is unlikely.

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.