porphyrousadj.
/ˈpɔːf(ə)rəs/, U.S. /ˈpɔrf(ə)rəs/ rare.
Of porphyry; porphyritic, porphyroid. N.E.D. (1907) gives the definition simply as ‘Purple’, citing quot. 1883, and this is followed in Webster's New Internat. Dict. (1934) and later dictionaries; but the context suggests that Bridges did not intend the word primarily as a colour term.
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the world > matter > colour > named colours > purple or purpleness > [adjective]
purpurine1300
purpurec1400
purple1415
purpurate?c1422
purple-coloured1567
porphyrite1601
purpie1651
purpurean1656
blattean1658
purpureal1708
porphyrous1798
Babylonian1846
1798 Traveller's Guide 26 The lowest stratum is a coarse pudding stone, formed of fragments of a porphyrous rock, of a number of different sizes, mixed with a good deal of red felt-spar.
1883 R. Bridges Prometheus 61 Who canst..bid earth's stubborn metals flow like oil, Her porphyrous heart-veins boil.
1957 A. Rookwood et al. Soviet Far East 45 This is the case with the peak of Sokhondo, at the source of the Ingoda River, which consists of porphyry and porphyrous tuffs.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1798