Definition of "ophite" [o•phite]

• A mottled green rock composed of diabase. (noun)
• Any of various green rocks, such as serpentine. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Geolog. ', t. ii., p. 379-415; on a similar effect produced by the action of dioritic and pyroxenic porphyry (the' ophite 'described by Elie de Beaumont, in the' Geologie de la France ', t. i., p. 72), between Tolosa and St. Sebastian, see Dufrenoy, in the' Mem."
• "Lateran, are the only examples of ophite pillars in Rome."
• "Very different from this is the ancient serpentine or ophite of Sparta called the _Lapis Lacedæmonius_, found in different hills near Krokee, or in Mount Taygetus in Lacedæmon, where the old quarry has recently been opened."