Porphyria

//pɔː(ɹ)ˈfɪɹɪə// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any of several usually hereditary abnormalities of porphyrin metabolism characterized by excretion of excess porphyrins in the urine.

    "The term porphyria, derived from the Greek word porphyra, meaning purple, is apt because a hallmark of most of the porphyrias is the overexcretion of porphyrins in urine or feces."

  2. 2
    a genetic abnormality of metabolism causing abdominal pains and mental confusion wordnet

Example

More examples

"The term porphyria, derived from the Greek word porphyra, meaning purple, is apt because a hallmark of most of the porphyrias is the overexcretion of porphyrins in urine or feces."

Etymology

From porphyrin, from German Porphyrin.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.