Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for melaphyre. Search instead for Elaphure.

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

  • melaphyric adjective

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.

In China, at the close of the period, there were enormous eruptions of melaphyre, porphyrite and quartz-porphyry.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 3 "Capefigue" to "Carneades" by Various

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

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

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 Humboldt, Alexander von

Apophyllite is a mineral of secondary origin, commonly occurring, in association with other zeolites, in amygdaloidal cavities in basalt and melaphyre.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 3 "Apollodorus" to "Aral" by Various

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 Ditchfield, P. H. (Peter Hampson)