porphyra

Term: porphyra

Literally meaning: “purple-red color”

Origin: Anc Greek

πυρ/pyr(=fire)

+φύρω/phyro(=stir)

Coined/History

Greek “porphyra” (Latin, “ purpura”) was a very expensive dye in texts dated about 1600 BC. The use and large scale production of the dye ceased with the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and it was replaced by other cheaper dyes like lichen purple and madder.

Definition

1. Porphyra is a red algal genus (class Bangiophyceae), comprising approximately 70 species.

2. Porphyra or Tyrian purple is a purple-red natural dye which is extracted from from a mollusc found on the shores of the city of Tyre in ancient Phoenicia.