gryphite Min.
(ˈgrɪfaɪt)
[ad. mod.L. grȳphītes, f. L. grȳph-us: see griffin + -ite.]
A fossil oyster-shell of the genus Gryphæa. (Cf. crowstone.)
| [1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., Gryphites, in natural history, the name of a very common fossile shell.] 1796 Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) I. 81 It [Compact Limestone] frequently abounds with impressions or petrifactions of..pectinites, gryphites, mytulites, &c. 1811 Pinkerton Petral. I. 481 Gryphites..enter into the composition of the singular calcareous chain of the Pyrenees. 1872 W. S. Symonds Rec. Rocks ix. 327 A fine section of Lower Lias, with numerous gryphites and other characteristic fossils. |
| attrib. 1833 Lyell Elem. Geol. (1865) 415 The name of Gryphite limestone has sometimes been applied to the lias. |