porphyry: Meaning and Definition of

por•phy•ry

Pronunciation: (pôr'fu-rē), [key]
— pl. -ries.
  1. a very hard rock, anciently quarried in Egypt, having a dark, purplish-red groundmass containing small crystals of feldspar.
  2. any igneous rock containing coarse crystals, as phenocrysts, in a finer-grained groundmass.

Por•phy•ry

Pronunciation: (pôr'fu-rē), [key]
— n.
  1. a.d.c233–c304, Greek philosopher.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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