English Explanatory Dictionary

porphyry

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A hard igneous rock consisting of large crystals in a fine-grained matrix.
  2. A purple-red rock of this kind.
name
  1. A Tyrian Neoplatonic philosopher.

Pronunciation

/ˈpɔɹ.fɪ.ɹi/ /ˈpɔɹ.fə.ɹi/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-porphyry.wav

Word forms

porphyry porphyries

Etymology

From Old French porfire, from Ancient Greek πορφυρίτης λίθος (porphurítēs líthos, “purple stone”), from πορφύρα (porphúra, “purple-fish, purple dye”).

Derived words

porphyraceous porphyric porphyrogenite → porphyrogenitism porphyrogeniture porphyroid porphyrous porphyry shell Porphyrian tree of Porphyry

Translations

Catalan: pòrfir Chinese Mandarin: 斑岩 Finnish: porfyyri French: porphyre French: porphyrie Georgian: პორფირი Greek: πορφυρίτης Hindi: सुम्माक़ Indonesian: porfiria Italian: porfido Japanese: 斑岩 Korean: 반암 Portuguese: pórfiro Romanian: porfiră Romanian: porfir Russian: порфир Spanish: pórfido Old Spanish: arroham Urdu: سماق
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