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Tyrian purple
noun
- Also called Tyrian dye. a highly prized crimson or purple dye of classical antiquity, originally obtained at great expense from a certain shellfish: later shown to be an indigo derivative and synthetically produced, and now replaced by other synthetic dyes.
- a vivid, purplish red.
Tyrian purple
noun
- a deep purple dye obtained from molluscs of the genus Murex and highly prized in antiquity
- a vivid purplish-red colour
- ( as adjective ) Sometimes shortened toTyrian
a Tyrian-purple robe
Word History and Origins
Origin of Tyrian purple1
Example Sentences
The common name of the dyestuff, Tyrian purple, derives from the habitat of the mollusks, which the Phoenicians purportedly began harvesting in the 16th century B.C. in the city-state of Tyre in present-day Lebanon.
Ancient Tyrian purple, named for the town of Tyre in what is now southern Lebanon, was also rose, bluish red or velvety black, she writes.
For the ancient Phoenicians, from modern-day Lebanon, the trade in Tyrian purple helped build a mercantile empire that established new colonies across the Mediterranean, including at Carthage, near modern Tunis, under the mythical Queen Dido.
One gram of natural Tyrian purple pigment, for instance, takes 120 pounds of sea snails to create, so paint companies make a mixed, artificial hue instead.
Murex mollusks are the only source of the ancient dye, documented by Pliny, known as Tyrian purple.
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