α. 1500s 1700s– murrhine, 1800s– murrine.
β. 1600s– myrrhine.
murrhineadj.n.
/ˈmʌrᵻn/, /ˈmʌrn̩/, /ˈmʌrʌɪn/, U.S. /ˈmərən/, /ˈməˌrin/ A. adj.
Of or relating to murra; made of or resembling murra. murrhine glass n. decorative glassware in which metal particles, precious stones, etc., are embedded.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > glass and glass-like materials > [adjective] > glass-like materials
murrhine1579
myrrhine1637
α.
β. 1606 G. W. tr. Epit. Liues Emperors in tr. Justinus Hist. sig. Gg 2 Golden and christaline, Myrrhine vessels and pottes.1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd iv. 119 Crystal and Myrrhine cups imboss'd with Gems. View more context for this quotation1729 B. Lacy Misc. Poems compos'd at Newfoundland 59 Our Wine out of a Christal Glass we sup, You ever drink out of a Myrrhine Cup.1832 W. Gell Pompeiana I. vi. 98 The myrrhine vases..which were in such request.1839 T. De Quincey 2nd Paper on Murder in Blackwood's Mag. Nov. 667 The art..of making the myrrhine cups..was lost.1885 W. Pater Marius the Epicurean I. 60 ‘Like jeweller's work! like a myrrhine vase!’ admirers said of his writing.1891 F. W. Farrar Darkness & Dawn II. lvii. 243 On abaci of carved ivory stood myrrhine vases..red, veined, lustrous.1966 J. J. Pollitt Art of Rome 149 Nero's fondness for Myrrhine ware, a type of tableware made from agate or a similar stone.1992 A. Bell tr. M. Toussaint-Samat Hist. Food ix. 269 The famous myrrhine glass cups from which the great patricians of the Empire drank were made from a kind of crystal and had nothing in common with the aromatic resin myrrh.1579 T. Twyne tr. Petrarch Phisicke against Fortune i. xxxviii. 56 A man myght see the pryce of one Murrhine stone to be at seuentie talentes.
1715 tr. G. Panciroli Hist. Memorable Things Lost I. i. vii. 19 The Wine may grow warm, from the Colour of the Murrhine Cup.
1805 D. Macpherson Ann. Commerce I. 170 Murrhine stones from Ozenè.
1886 Temple Bar 78 198 It has the pigeon's-neck lustre of the murrhine vase.
1890 Cent. Dict. Murrine glass, a modern decorative glass-manufacture, in which gold and other metals are used for decoration in the body of the glass.
1901 ‘M. Field’ Race of Leaves i. p. xx Your royal brother Shatters his murrhine vases at a blow If one he loves offend.
1957 J. Bishop Day Christ Died (1959) 257 Vases..were made of Corinthian bronze or murrhine glass.
1989 M. Wiggins John Dollar (1990) i. 4 The next day they grew murrhine and clotted, vitelline as yolks.
B. n.
A murrhine vase or cup. Also: murra, murrhine glass.Although quot. 1782 refers (punningly or by confusion) to myrrh, murra in the corresponding Latin text is generally interpreted as murra n., and the piece forms one of a series of epigrams on pitchers, cups, goblets, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > glass and glass-like materials > [noun] > glass > glass-work or glassware > types of
murrhine1782
Waterford1783
crystalware1805
peloton glass1881
opal ware1894
Stiegel1906
Mary Gregory1959
Nailsea1961
Vaseline1966
1782 J. Elphinston tr. Martial Epigrams ii. cxli. 428 Myrrhines. If hot thy bev'rage, let the myrrh imbue: Myrrh gives a zest, Falernian never knew.
1852 E. A. Andrews Copious Latin-Eng. Lex. Myrrhina..murrhine vases, murrhines.
1879 C. T. Lewis & C. Short Lat. Dict. Murrina or myrrina..murrine vases, murrines.
1898 ‘M. Field’ World at Auction i. p. vi These priceless vases of Corinthian bronze And murrhine that at touch of poison breaks.
2000 Pittsburgh Post-Gaz. (Nexis) 11 Nov. b12 Dinah Hulet has assembled 20 sections of murrine to form the striking portrait.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
adj.n.1579