ophite Meaning, Definition & Usage

O"phite adjective
Etymology
Gr. , fr. a serpent.
Definitions
  1. Of or pertaining to a serpent. Obs.
O"phite noun
Etymology
L. ophites, Gr. (sc. ), a kind of marble spotted like a serpent: cf. F. ophite.
Definitions
  1. (Min.) A greenish spotted porphyry, being a diabase whose pyroxene has been altered to uralite; -- first found in the Pyreness. So called from the colored spots which give it a mottled appearance. -- O*phi"ic a.
O"phite noun
Etymology
L. Ophitae, pl. See Ophite, a.
Definitions
  1. (Eccl.Hist.) A mamber of a Gnostic serpent-worshiping sect of the second century.

Webster 1913