malchus

noun

1. Malchus, a.d. c233–c304, Greek philosopher.

noun plural -ries

1. any igneous rock with large crystals embedded in a finer groundmass of minerals
2. obsolete a reddish-purple rock consisting of large crystals of feldspar in a finer groundmass of feldspar, hornblende, etc

noun

1. original name Malchus. 232–305 ad, Greek Neo-Platonist philosopher, born in Syria; disciple and biographer of Plotinus

n.type of ornamental stone, late 14c., porfurie, from Old French porfire, from Italian porfiro and in some cases directly from Latin porphyrites, a purple semi-precious stone quarried near the Red Sea in Egypt, from Greek porphyrites (lithos) “the purple (stone),” from porphyra (n.) “purple, purple dye” (see purple). Spelling Latinized mid-15c. Now used generally for a type of igneous rock without regard to color. Porphyrios was an ancient proper name.

1. An igneous rock containing the large crystals known as phenocrysts embedded in a fine-grained matrix.