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porphyritic

[ pawr-fuh-rit-ik ]

adjective

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


porphyritic

/ ˌpɔːfɪˈrɪtɪk /

adjective

  1. (of rocks) having large crystals in a fine groundmass of minerals
  2. 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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Other Words From

  • nonpor·phy·ritic adjective
  • pseudo·porphy·ritic adjective
  • subpor·phy·ritic adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of porphyritic1

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

Dark grey porphyritic hornstone, approaching to compact felspar, with imbedded crystals of felspar.

Porphyritic mountains, says M. Maury, imprint on the landscape a peculiarly picturesque character.

That is, the metamorphic rocks are characteristically holocrystalline, while igneous rocks are porphyritic, or cryptocrystalline.

The lavas comprise dark pitchstone, resembling that at Kirk Yetholm, and porphyritic and amygdaloidal andesites and basalts.

But the bulk of the moraine is composed of porphyritic granite derived from Feldspar and Cathedral Valleys.

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porphyrinporphyrization