noun
Refers to the marine organism or its calcareous skeleton, often used in contexts like coral reefs, jewelry, or aquarium keeping.
沖縄の海には美しいサンゴがたくさんある。
There are many beautiful corals in the sea around Okinawa.
このネックレスは本物のサンゴでできている。
This necklace is made of real coral.
Specifically means 'coral reef', a compound using the same kanji.
The word is of Chinese origin (珊瑚, shānhú in Mandarin), borrowed into Japanese. The katakana spelling reflects its common use as a biological term.