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melaphyre

American  
[mel-uh-fahyuhr] / ˈmɛl əˌfaɪər /

noun

Petrology.
  1. a type of dark igneous rock embedded with feldspar crystals, related to basalt.


melaphyre British  
/ ˈmɛləˌfaɪə /

noun

  1. obsolete geology a type of weathered amygdaloidal basalt or andesite

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms


Etymology

Origin of melaphyre

C19: via French from Greek melas black + ( por ) phura purple


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

The rocks consist chiefly of basalt, dolerite, melaphyre and felstone.

From Volcanoes: Past and Present by Edward Hull

The Rowley Hills in Staffordshire, commonly known as Rowley Ragstone, are melaphyre.

From The Student's Elements of Geology by Sir Charles Lyell

Below this were found chipped flints, an adze of melaphyre, and a layer of boulders, sand, and clay, brought down by the ice from the higher valley.

From English Villages by P. H. (Peter Hampson) Ditchfield

Beaumont, Elie de, on the uplifting of mountain chains, 51, 300; influence of the rocks of melaphyre and serpentine, on pendulum experiments, 167; conjectures on the quartz strata of the Col de la Poissoniere, 266.

From COSMOS: A Sketch of the Physical Description of the Universe, Vol. 1 by Alexander von Humboldt

Murchison, Sir R., account of a large fissure through which melaphyre had been ejected, 258; classification of fossiliferous strata, 277; on the age of the Palaeosaurus and Thecodontosaurus of Bristol, 274.

From COSMOS: A Sketch of the Physical Description of the Universe, Vol. 1 by Alexander von Humboldt

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