Neptune's cupn.
/ˈnɛptjuːnz kʌp/, /ˈnɛptʃuːnz kʌp/, U.S. /ˈnɛpˌt(j)unz ˌkəp/ 1. A marine leuconoid sponge of the genus Poterion, which forms a very large, goblet-shaped structure.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Parazoa > phylum Porifera > [noun] > member of > specific types > thalassema neptuni
Neptune's cup1833
Neptune's goblet1839
1822 J. Crawfurd Diary 6 Feb. in Jrnl. Embassy to Siam & Cochin China (1828) ii. 47 Those gigantic sponges, which are peculiar to the coast of Singapore, and which Europeans have called Neptunian cups.]
1833 R. E. Grant in Lancet 26 Oct. 198/2 The large cup-like bodies—‘Neptune's cups’..—[are] regularly-formed cups, three or four feet in height, and with a diameter sometimes of more than a foot.
1863 J. G. Wood Illustr. Nat. Hist. (new ed.) III. 770 The extraordinary object which is called by the appropriate name of Neptune's cup is one of the most magnificent..of the sponge tribe.
1911 Encycl. Brit. XXV. 718/2 Flabellate..and cup-shaped forms are frequently met with even amongst shallow-water sponges, and in widely separated genera, such as Poterion (the great Neptune's cup sponge) and Reniera testudinaria.
1968 P. Brien in M. Florkin & B. T. Scheer Chem. Zool. II. i. i. 12 Among the Suberitidae is included the famous Neptune's cup (Poterion neptuni), the giant sponge of the Pacific, shaped like a vase with a polarized wall.
1988 Guinness Bk. Records 1989 41/2 Neptune's cup or goblet (Poterion patera) of Indonesia grows to 120 cm..in height.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > rock > concretion or petrifaction > [noun] > coral > specific
coral-stone1607
mushroom stone1668
starry stone1677
mushroom coral1681
stone-mushroom1687
organ-pipe coral1833
Neptune's cup1839
1839 H. Malcom Trav. (1840) 28/1 One of these curious productions, a species of alcyonium, called ‘Neptune's cup’.
1855 W. S. Dallas Syst. Nat. Hist. I. 239 The Alcyonium poculum, or Neptune's cup, which is found upon the coral reefs in the eastern Archipelago.
1885 A. Brassey In Trades 312 There were grey sponges..in shape not unlike coral Neptune's cups.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1833