ophite
[ of-ahyt, oh-fahyt ]
/ ˈɒf aɪt, ˈoʊ faɪt /
noun Petrology.
a diabase in which elongate crystals of plagioclase are embedded in pyroxene.
Origin of ophite
1350–1400; Middle English
ophites < Latin
ophītēs serpentine stone < Greek
ophī́tēs (
líthos) serpentine (stone), equivalent to
óph(is) serpent +
-ī́tēs
-ite1
OTHER WORDS FROM ophite
o·phit·ic [oh-fit-ik] /oʊˈfɪt ɪk/, adjectiveWords nearby ophite
ophiolite,
ophiolite suite,
ophiology,
ophiophagous,
ophir,
ophite,
ophitic,
ophiuchus,
ophiuroid,
ophritis,
ophryon
Example sentences from the Web for ophitic
This produces the ophitic structure (very common also in the dolerites).
Many of them are ophitic, especially those which contain olivine, but others are intersertal, like the intersertal dolerites.
Ophitic structure is commonest in olivine-dolerites, though the olivine takes no part in it.
British Dictionary definitions for ophitic (1 of 2)
ophitic
/ (əʊˈfɪtɪk) /
adjective
(of the texture of rocks such as dolerite) having small elongated unorientated feldspar crystals enclosed within pyroxene grains
British Dictionary definitions for ophitic (2 of 2)
ophite
/ (ˈəʊfaɪt) /
noun
any of several greenish mottled rocks with ophitic texture, such as dolerite and diabase
Word Origin for ophite
C17: from Latin
ophītēs, from Greek, from
ophis snake: because the mottled appearance resembles the markings of a snake