Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Murex trunculus, so called because it was used by the ancients in the manufacture of purple dye; also a violet shell, one of the Ianthinidæ.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • In fact, the purple-shell was "the maiden" and also "the sow": in other words it was

    The Evolution of the Dragon G. Elliot Smith

  • (though more ancient) relationship of the goddess to the cowry, the pearl-shell, the trumpet-shell, and the purple-shell.

    The Evolution of the Dragon G. Elliot Smith

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