ophite

O"phite, a. Etym: [Gr. Defn: Of or pertaining to a serpent. [Obs.] O"phite, n. Etym: [L. ophites, Gr. ophite.] (Min.) Defn: 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, n. Etym: [L. Ophitae, pl. See Ophite, a.] (Eccl.Hist.) Defn: A mamber of a Gnostic serpent-worshiping sect of the second century.

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