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Glite Dictionary
murex

murex

1 9.9
A sea snail with a spiny shell that people used in ancient times to make purple dye
  • noun
  • /ˈmjʊrɛks/
  • Specialized
: murex
  • Around 1684, a Bristol customs officer named William Cole began communicating with experimental contacts in London and Oxford about his methods for producing colors from murex shellfish.
  • murex snail
  • murex shell

The problem is, is to get purple dye, you get them from this snail shell, the sea snail called Murex, right.

Examples

  • The highest-quality dye was derived from the murex, a marine mollusk, and each batch could differ in hue and saturation.

    Academic text (2006)

  • And he knew why purple, historically, had been an imperial color: it took the Romans more than ten thousand Murex snails to color one toga, an effort that required an emperor's wealth.

    Academic text (2010)

  • The problem is, is to get purple dye, you get them from this snail shell, the sea snail called Murex, right.

    Danny Jones

  • A marlinspike, a crowned nassa, a branched murex, a lined bullia, small voyagers navigating the current-packed ridges of sand.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • Cole was convinced that his murex preparation would not only be able to rival the Tyrian purple used to dye the robes of ruling classes in Mediterranean antiquity but also could serve the imperial projects of Stuart monarchs Charles II and James II.

    Academic text (2015)

  • The ancient Romans harvested the murex sea snail to produce the valuable purple dye known as Tyrian purple.

  • Archaeologists discovered numerous murex shells at the site, indicating that the area was once a hub for dye production.

  • Historically, the murex was prized for its ability to create a rich purple hue that decorated the garments of nobility.

Surface Forms

murex singular
murexes plural

Etymology

Murex names a spiny sea snail that ancient people used to make a very special purple dye, often called Tyrian purple. A helpful way to remember it is to imagine squeezing a small snail to get the royal 'purple' color, so murex brings to mind both the shell and the costly 'dye'.