Why “murrhine” is a great word
MURRHINE — [Adjective] Made of or relating to murra, a precious material used in ancient Rome for ornate vases and wine cups. From Latin murrhinus, from murrha ("murra, a precious stone or material"), itself from Ancient Greek μύρρᾱ (múrrhā), of Semitic origin. Unlike "vitreous," which specifies the cold transparency of glass, or "ceramic," which denotes the common, fired earth of a potter's wheel, "murrhine" describes an object wrought from a rare, opaque substance whose precise mineral composition remains a scholarly mystery. It is the cool, dense weight of a cup in a patrician's hand, the play of milky light within its veined depths, and the faint, percussive ring of a luxury so complete its very composition was lost to time—a tactile ghost of an empire's most refined thirst.