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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.

In the older rocks, basalt has often undergone decomposition into melaphyre; and amongst the metamorphic rocks it has been changed into diorite or hornblende rock; the augite having been converted into hornblende.

From Volcanoes: Past and Present by Hull, Edward

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 Humboldt, Alexander von

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

From Volcanoes: Past and Present by Hull, Edward

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)

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