Editing Atoll (section)

== Usage ==
The word ''atoll'' comes from the [[Maldivian language|Dhivehi]] word {{Transliteration|dv|atholhu}} ({{lang|dv|އަތޮޅު}}, {{IPA|dv|ˈat̪oɭu|pron}}). Dhivehi is an [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan language]] spoken in the [[Maldives]]. The word's first recorded English use was in 1625 as ''atollon''. [[Charles Darwin]] coined the term in his monograph, ''[[The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs]]''. He recognized the word's indigenous origin and defined it as a "circular group of coral islets", synonymously with "lagoon-island".<ref name="darwincr1" />{{rp|page=2}}

More modern definitions of ''atoll'' describe them as "annular reefs enclosing a lagoon in which there are no [[promontory|promontories]] other than reefs and [[islet]]s composed of reef [[detritus]]"<ref>McNeil (1954, p. 396).</ref> or "in an exclusively morphological sense, [as] a ring-shaped ribbon reef enclosing a lagoon".<ref>Fairbridge (1950, p. 341).</ref>