murex

[ myoor-eks ]

noun

, plural mu·ri·ces [myoor, -, uh, -seez], mu·rex·es.

1. any marine gastropod of the genus Murex, common in tropical seas, certain species of which yield the royal purple dye valued by the ancients.
2. a shell used as a trumpet, as in representations of Tritons in art.
3. purplish red.

murex

/ ˈmjʊərɛks /

noun

1. any of various spiny-shelled marine gastropods of the genus Murex and related genera: formerly used as a source of the dye Tyrian purple

Word History and Origins

Origin of murex¹

1580–90; < New Latin, Latin mūrex the shellfish that yielded Tyrian purple dye

Word History and Origins

Origin of murex¹

C16: from Latin mūrex purple fish; related to Greek muax sea mussel

Example Sentences

The most prized pigment of antiquity was processed not from a tangle of root or the frothy extract of a weed, but by drawing out a slimy secretion from the mucus glands behind the anus of murex sea snails — “the bottom of the bottom-feeders,” the historian Kelly Grovier has written.

From New York Times

Mouhamad Ghassen Nouira works from a hut in his garden to process murex snails using techniques first developed by the Phoenicians to produce a dye known as Tyrian purple that sells online for about $2,500 a gram.

From Reuters

"This hobby started when I was a boy in history class studying the Canaanites, the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians and how they were famous for extracting purple from murex and it was more expensive than gold," Nouira said.

From Reuters

Years later, he noticed a dead murex on the beach and recalling his history classes decided to experiment with ways of making the dye.

From Reuters

Nouira spent 14 years working out how to produce the dye from nets of murex he buys from a local fisherman, extracting the glands, crushing the shells, fermenting and cooking them and eventually producing tiny amounts of purple powder.

From Reuters