porphyry
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Related to porphyry: porphyria
por·phy·ry
(pôr′fə-rē)n. pl. por·phy·ries
1. Any of various varieties of reddish-purple rock, often containing light-colored crystals, used as a decorative stone.
2. Geology Rock containing relatively large conspicuous crystals, especially of feldspar, in a fine-grained igneous matrix.
[Middle English porphiri, porfurie, purplish-red porphyry, from Old French porfire, from Italian porfiro, from Medieval Latin porphyrium, from Latin porphyrītēs, from Greek porphurītēs, from porphurā, mollusk yielding Tyrian purple, Tyrian purple garment; see purple.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
porphyry
(ˈpɔːfɪrɪ)n, pl -ries
1. (Geological Science) any igneous rock with large crystals embedded in a finer groundmass of minerals
2. (Geological Science) obsolete a reddish-purple rock consisting of large crystals of feldspar in a finer groundmass of feldspar, hornblende, etc
[C14 porfurie, from Late Latin porphyrītēs, from Greek porphuritēs (lithos) purple (stone), from porphuros purple]
Porphyry
(ˈpɔːfɪrɪ)n
(Biography) original name Malchus. 232–305 ad, Greek Neo-Platonist philosopher, born in Syria; disciple and biographer of Plotinus
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
por•phy•ry
(ˈpɔr fə ri)n., pl. -ries.
1. a very hard rock, anciently quarried in Egypt, having a dark, purplish red groundmass containing small crystals of feldspar.
2. any igneous rock containing coarse crystals, as phenocrysts, in a finer-grained groundmass.
[1350–1400; Middle English porfurie, porfirie < Medieval Latin porphyreum, alter. of Latin porphyrītēs < Greek porphyritēs (líthos) porphyritic (i.e., purplish) stone =pórphyr(os) purple + -ītēs; see -ite1]
por`phy•rit′ic (-ˈrɪt ɪk) adj.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
por·phy·ry
(pôr′fə-rē) A fine-grained igneous rock containing some relatively large crystals, especially of feldspar.
The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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Noun | 1. | porphyry - any igneous rock with crystals embedded in a finer groundmass of minerals groundmass - (geology) the matrix of fine-grained crystalline material in which larger crystals are embedded igneous rock - rock formed by the solidification of molten magma |
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Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
porphyry
n → Porphyr m
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007