Word.ws English Dictionary

porphyry

/ˈpɔɹ.fɪ.ɹi/

porphyry noun: a hard igneous rock consisting of large crystals in a fine-grained matrix.

porphyry: a hard igneous rock consisting of large crystals in a fine-grained matrix
Image: Jstuby, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

porphyry (countable and uncountable, plural porphyries)

  1. A hard igneous rock consisting of large crystals in a fine-grained matrix.
    1. A purple-red rock of this kind.
      • A quartet of porphyry warriors, locked for all time in stern embrace outside St. Mark's Basilica, were probably carved in the Fourth Century. They are believed to represent the Roman Emperor Diocletian and the three men who held power with him.1980, Colin Thubron, Seafarers: The Venetians, page 43

Proper noun capitalized: Porphyry

Porphyry

  1. A Tyrian Neoplatonic philosopher.

porphyry meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Indonesian

porphyry in Hindi

crystal
सुम्माक़ summāq

porphyry in Tamil

போபைரி, பருவெட்டுத் துணுக்குப் பாறை

porphyry in Urdu

crystal
سماق summāq

porphyry in Indonesian

crystal
porfiria

Forms of porphyry

pluralporphyries

Origin of porphyry

From Old French porfire, from Ancient Greek πορφυρίτης λίθος (porphurítēs líthos, “purple stone”), from πορφύρα (porphúra, “purple-fish, purple dye”).

Words formed from porphyry

Phrases with porphyry

Questions about porphyry

What does porphyry mean?
Porphyry means a hard igneous rock consisting of large crystals in a fine-grained matrix.
What is porphyry in Hindi?
Porphyry in Hindi is सुम्माक़ (summāq). See Porphyry meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is porphyry?
Porphyry can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce porphyry?
Porphyry is pronounced /ˈpɔɹ.fɪ.ɹi/.
What is the plural of porphyry?
The plural of porphyry is porphyries.

Words near porphyry in the dictionary

  1. porphyrophobics
  2. porphyropsin
  3. porphyropsins
  4. porphyrous
  5. porphyroxine
  6. porphyry
  7. porphyry shell
  8. porphyry shells
  9. porpicide
  10. porpintine
  11. porpintines

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: porphyry (page history and authors); Porphyry (page history and authors); porphyry (Tamil Wiktionary) (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:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-porphyry.wav.

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