Por`phy*ra"ceous (?), a. Porphyritic.
Por"phyre (?), n. Porphyry. [Obs.] Locke.
Por"phy*rite (?), n. (Min.) A rock with a porphyritic structure; as,
augite porphyrite.
Por`phy*rit"ic (?), a. [Cf. F. porphyritique.] (Min.) Relating to, or
resembling, porphyry, that is, characterized by the presence of
distinct crystals, as of feldspar, quartz, or augite, in a relatively
fine-grained base, often aphanitic or cryptocrystalline.
Por`phy*ri*za"tion (?), n. The act of porphyrizing, or the state of
being porphyrized.
Por`phy*rize (?), v. t. [Cf. F. porphyriser, Gr. &?; to purplish.] To
cause to resemble porphyry; to make spotted in composition, like
porphyry.
Por`phy*ro*gen"i*tism (?), n. [LL. porphyro genitus, fr. Gr. &?;; &?;
purple + root of &?; to be born.] The principle of succession in royal
families, especially among the Eastern Roman emperors, by which a
younger son, if born after the accession of his father to the throne,
was preferred to an elder son who was not so born. Sir T. Palgrave.
Por"phy*ry (?), n.; pl. Porphyries (#). [F. porphyre, L. porphyrites,
fr. Gr. &?; like purple, fr. &?; purple. See Purple.] (Geol.) A term
used somewhat loosely to designate a rock consisting of a fine-grained
base (usually feldspathic) through which crystals, as of feldspar or
quartz, are disseminated. There are red, purple, and green varieties,
which are highly esteemed as marbles.
Porphyry shell (Zoˆl.), a handsome marine gastropod shell (Oliva
porphyria), having a dark red or brown polished surface, marked with
light spots, like porphyry.
||Por"pi*ta (?), n. [NL., from Gr. &?; brooch.] (Zoˆl.) A genus of
||bright-colored Siphonophora found floating in the warmer parts of the
||ocean. The individuals are round and disk-shaped, with a large zooid
||in the center of the under side, surrounded by smaller nutritive and
||reproductive zooids, and by slender dactylozooids near the margin.
||The disk contains a central float, or pneumatocyst.
Por"poise (?), n. [OE. porpeys, OF. porpeis, literally, hog fish, from
L. porcus swine + piscis fish. See Pork, and Fish.] 1. (Zoˆl.) Any
small cetacean of the genus PhocÊna, especially P. communis, or P.
phocÊna, of Europe, and the closely allied American species (P.
Americana). The color is dusky or blackish above, paler beneath. They
are closely allied to the dolphins, but have a shorter snout. Called
also harbor porpoise, herring hag, puffing pig, and snuffer.