ophite

UK/ˈɒfʌɪt/US/ˈoʊfaɪt/

ophite noun: any of various rocks having snake-like markings, such as a mottled greenish porphyry.

Noun (1)

ophite (countable and uncountable, plural ophites)

Any of various rocks having snake-like markings, such as a mottled greenish porphyry.

ophite (comparative more ophite, superlative most ophite)

(rare) Serpent-like; ophidian.
- The idols represented the eons, divine emanations, and their origin was probably ophite – about which we know a thing or two at first hand.1974, Lawrence Durrell, Monsieur, Faber & Faber, published 1992, page 243

Ophite (plural Ophites)

(historical) A member of the Ophites, a Gnostic snake-worshipping sect.

Synonyms:

Serpentinian

From Latin ophites, from Ancient Greek ὀφίτης (ophítēs) (Etymology 2, below). Compare Ophite.

From Ancient Greek ὀφίτης (ophítēs).

Latin Ophitae, plural. Compare ophite.

What does ophite mean?: Ophite means any of various rocks having snake-like markings, such as a mottled greenish porphyry.
What part of speech is ophite?: Ophite can be a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce ophite?: Ophite is pronounced /ˈɒfʌɪt/ (UK).
What is the plural of ophite?: The plural of ophite is ophites.

Adapted from Wiktionary: ophite (page history and authors); Ophite (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “ophite.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ophite. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.