murex

[ myoo r-eks ]

/ ˈmyʊər ɛks /

noun, plural mu·ri·ces [myoo r-uh-seez] /ˈmyʊər əˌsiz/, mu·rex·es.

any marine gastropod of the genus Murex, common in tropical seas, certain species of which yield the royal purple dye valued by the ancients.

a shell used as a trumpet, as in representations of Tritons in art.

purplish red.

Nearby words

murdoch, rupert, murdrum, mure, murein, mures, murex, murexide, murexide test, mureş, murfreesboro, murgeon

Origin of murex

1580–90; < New Latin, Latin mūrex the shellfish that yielded Tyrian purple dye

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for murex

We find this in the case of a kind of snail (Murex brandaris).
Schenk's Theory: The Determination of Sex|Samuel Leopold Schenk
But murex or no murex, Purple was discovered by my ancestors.
The Book of Khalid|Ameen Rihani
They belong, mainly, to the two allied families of the Murex and the Buccinum or Purpura.
History of Phoenicia|George Rawlinson
Purple, cloth dyed with a purple dye made from the murex, a shell-fish found in the Mediterranean.
The Story of Sigurd the Volsung|William Morris

He says that Tarentine muslins, woven from the filaments of the pinna dipped in the dye of the murex, rivalled those of Cos.
Needlework As Art|Marian Alford

British Dictionary definitions for murex

murex

/ (ˈmjʊərɛks) /

noun plural murices (ˈmjʊərɪˌsiːz)

any of various spiny-shelled marine gastropods of the genus Murex and related genera: formerly used as a source of the dye Tyrian purple

Word Origin for murex

C16: from Latin mūrex purple fish; related to Greek muax sea mussel

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