a very hard rock, anciently quarried in Egypt, having a dark, purplish-red groundmass containing small crystals of feldspar.
Petrology. any igneous rock containing coarse crystals, as phenocrysts, in a finer-grained groundmass.
any igneous rock with large crystals embedded in a finer groundmass of minerals
obsolete a reddish-purple rock consisting of large crystals of feldspar in a finer groundmass of feldspar, hornblende, etc
1350–1400; Middle English porfurie, porfirie < Medieval Latin porphyreum, alteration of Latin porphyrītēs < Greek porphyrī́tēs porphyry, short for porphyrī́tēs líthos porphyritic (i.e., purplish) stone, equivalent to pórphyr ( os ) purple + -ītēs; see -ite 1
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Working with Porphyry Press, a micropublisher based in McCarthy, I spent the past few years researching and writing a history of that rambunctious half-century.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 8, 2022
Porphyry deposits are typically the largest mines on Earth.
From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2017
Porphyry deposits are the most important source of copper and molybdenum in British Columbia, the western United States, and Central and South America.
From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015
His chief works were a study of the Isagoge of Porphyry and a commentary on Plato’s Phaedrus.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 3 "Helmont, Jean" to "Hernosand" by Various
To this end Porphyry especially adduces what Paul writes to the Galatians, chap. ii.
From Arguments Of Celsus, Porphyry, And The Emperor Julian, Against The Christians Also Extracts from Diodorus Siculus, Josephus, and Tacitus, Relating to the Jews, Together with an Appendix by Taylor, Thomas
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
