Meanings
porphyry1
plural porphyries
- countableuncountablegeographyA hard igneous rock consisting of large crystals in a fine-grained matrix.
- countableuncountablegeographyA 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
Porphyry2
- A Tyrian Neoplatonic philosopher.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounany igneous rock with crystals embedded in a finer groundmass of minerals
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekπορφυρίτης λίθος“purple stone”
- Old Frenchporfire
- Englishporphyry
From Old French porfire, from Ancient Greek πορφυρίτης λίθος (porphurítēs líthos, “purple stone”), from πορφύρα (porphúra, “purple-fish, purple dye”).
More words from Old French, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic فَرْفُورِيُوس
- فَرْفُورِيُوس (farfūriyūs)Neoplatonic philosopher
Catalan pòrfir, Porfiri
- pòrfircrystal
- PorfiriNeoplatonic philosopher
Chinese Mandarin 斑岩
- 斑岩 (bānyán)crystal
Finnish porfyyri, Porfyrios
- porfyyricrystal
- PorfyriosNeoplatonic philosopher
French porphyre, porphyrie
- porphyrecrystal
- porphyriecrystal
- PorphyreNeoplatonic philosopher
Greek πορφυρίτης, Πορφύριος
- πορφυρίτης (porfyrítis)crystal
- Πορφύριος (Porfýrios)Neoplatonic philosopher
Hindi सुम्माक़
- सुम्माक़ (summāq)crystal
Indonesian porfiria
- porfiriacrystal
Italian porfido, Porfirio
- porfidocrystal
- PorfirioNeoplatonic philosopher
Japanese 斑岩
- 斑岩 (hangan)crystal
Korean 반암
- 반암 (banam)crystal
Latin Porphyrius
- PorphyriusNeoplatonic philosopher
Polish Porfiriusz
- PorfiriuszNeoplatonic philosopher
Portuguese pórfiro, Porfírio
- pórfirocrystal
- PorfírioNeoplatonic philosopher
Romanian porfiră, porfir
- porfirăcrystal
- porfircrystal
Russian порфир, Порфи́рий
- порфир (porfir)crystal
- Порфи́рий (Porfírij)Neoplatonic philosopher
Spanish pórfido, Porfirio
- pórfidocrystal
- PorfirioNeoplatonic philosopher
Turkish somaki
- somakicrystal
Urdu سماق
- سماق (summāq)crystal
Cite this entry
porphyry. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/porphyry
“porphyry.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/porphyry. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “porphyry,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/porphyry.
Source: porphyry on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.