GORGONEAN
Gor*go"ne*an, a.
Defn: See Gorgonian, 1.
GORGONEION Gor`go*ne"ion, n.; pl. Gorgoneia. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. Gorgo`neios, equiv. to Gorgei^os belonging to a Gorgon.] (Arch.)
Defn: A mask carved in imitation of a Gorgon's head. Elmes.
GORGONIA
Gor*go"ni*a, n. Etym: [L., a coral which hardens in the air.] (Zoöl.)
1. A genus of Gorgoniacea, formerly very extensive, but now restricted to such species as the West Indian sea fan (Gorgonia flabellum), sea plume (G. setosa), and other allied species having a flexible, horny axis.
2. Any slender branched gorgonian.
GORGONIACEA
Gor*go`ni*a"ce*a, n. pl. Etym: [NL. See Gorgonia.] (Zoöl.)
Defn: One of the principal divisions of Alcyonaria, including those forms which have a firm and usually branched axis, covered with a porous crust, or c
Note: The axis is commonly horny, but it may be solid and stony (composed of calcium carbonate), as in the red coral of commerce, or it may be in alternating horny and stony joints, as in Isis. See Alcyonaria, Anthozoa, C.