Pronunciation: ˌ al-s ē - ə - ' ner- ē - ə n
Function: noun
Etymology: ultimately from Greek alkyoneion, a zoophyte, from neuter of alkyoneios of a kingfisher, from alkyon kingfisher; from its resemblance to a kingfisher's nest
Date: 1878
: any of a subclass (Alcyonaria) of colonial anthozoans (as the sea pens) having polyps with eight branched tentacles and eight septa