porphyritic

[ pawr-fuh-rit-ik ]

adjectivePetrology.

of, pertaining to, containing, or resembling porphyry, its texture, or its structure.

Origin of porphyritic

1375–1425; late Middle English porphiritike<Medieval Latin porphyrīticus<Greek porphyrītikós of porphyry; see -ic

Other words from porphyritic

non·por·phy·rit·ic, adjective
pseu·do·por·phy·rit·ic, adjective
sub·por·phy·rit·ic, adjective

Words Nearby porphyritic

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use porphyritic in a sentence

Dark grey porphyritic hornstone, approaching to compact felspar, with imbedded crystals of felspar.
Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia] [Volume 2 of 2] | Phillip Parker King
porphyritic mountains, says M. Maury, imprint on the landscape a peculiarly picturesque character.
The Desert World | Arthur Mangin
That is, the metamorphic rocks are characteristically holocrystalline, while igneous rocks are porphyritic, or cryptocrystalline.
North America | Israel C. Russell
The lavas comprise dark pitchstone, resembling that at Kirk Yetholm, and porphyritic and amygdaloidal andesites and basalts.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 1 | Various
But the bulk of the moraine is composed of porphyritic granite derived from Feldspar and Cathedral Valleys.
The Yosemite | John Muir

British Dictionary definitions for porphyritic

porphyritic

/ (ˌpɔːfɪˈrɪtɪk) /

adjective

(of rocks) having large crystals in a fine groundmass of minerals
consisting of porphyry

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

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