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murex definition

mu·rex (myo̵or′eks′)

noun pl. murices -·ri·ces′ (-ə sēz′) or murexes -·rexes

any of a genus (Murex) of flesh-eating snails, found in warm salt waters and having a rough, spiny shell: some species yield a purple substance formerly valued as a dye

Etymology: ModL < L, the purple fish < IE base *mus > mouse, Gr myax, sea mussel

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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