murex

See also: Murex

English

shell of a Venus comb murex (Murex pecten)

Wikispecies

Etymology

From Latin murex.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmjʊɚ.ɛks/

Noun

murex (plural murexes or murices)

1. Any of the genus Murex of marine gastropods.
   • 1907, Ronald M. Burrows, The Discoveries In Crete, page 25:

     The bank of crushed murex shell that Professor Bosanquet found here, and again at Palaikastro, in company with a whole mass of Kamáres pottery, shows that the men of Sidon and Tyre were not the first to practise the dying of purple.

   • 1991, John Montroll, Robert J. Lang, Origami Sea Life, page 56:

     The murexes (family Muricidae) are one of the most beautiful and sought-after families by shell collectors.

Hypernyms

• muricine

Hyponyms

• false venus comb, woodcock murex

Derived terms

• caltrop murex (Murex tribulus)
• purple dye murex (Haustellum brandaris)
• spiny murex (Haustellum brandaris)

 

Translations

sea snail of the genus Murex

• Czech: ostranka f
• Japanese: ミューレックス (myūrekkusu), 骨貝 (ほねがい, honegai)

Anagrams

• muxer, rumex

French

Etymology

From Latin.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

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Noun

murex m (plural murex)

1. Murex

Further reading

• “murex”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• rumex

Latin

Etymology

Uncertain. Perhaps a derivative of mūs (“mouse”), whence mūsculus (“a saltwater mussel”). Alternatively, together with Ancient Greek μύαξ (múax, “sea mussel”) borrowed from a Mediterranean substrate language.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈmuː.reks/, [ˈmuːrɛks̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈmu.reks/, [ˈmuːreks]

Noun

mūrex m (genitive mūricis); third declension

1. A shellfish used as a source of the dye Tyrian purple; the purple-fish
2. Tyrian purple, the purple dye, a purple color, made from the juice of the purple-fish
   • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 2.107:

     induerat Tyriō bis tīnctam mūrice pallam

     He had put on his mantle, twice dyed with Tyrian purple.

3. A sharp murex shell used as a bridle bit.
4. A pointed rock or stone.
5. A caltrop.
6. An iron spike.

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	mūrex	mūricēs
Genitive	mūricis	mūricum
Dative	mūricī	mūricibus
Accusative	mūricem	mūricēs
Ablative	mūrice	mūricibus
Vocative	mūrex	mūricēs

Derived terms

• mūricātus
• mūriculus
• mūriculātus

Descendants

• English: muriciform, muricite, muricoid
• Irish: maorach
• Catalan: múrex
• Italian: murice
• Portuguese: múrice
• Spanish: múrice
• Translingual: Murex

Further reading

• “murex”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “murex”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “murex”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• Rich, Anthony (1849) “murex”, in The Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary and Greek Lexicon‎^[2], London: Longmans, page 435
• “murex”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin