a. and sb. [f. L. Tyri-us (f. Tyrus Tyre) + -AN.] A. adj. Of or belonging to, native of, or made in Tyre, an ancient Phœnician city on the Mediterranean, the center of an extensive commerce.
In quot. 1634 alluding to the use of the pole-star (CYNOSURE 1) as a guide in navigation by the merchants of Tyre.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, IV. iv. 67. The Tyrian menȝe skalis wydequhair.
1582. Stanyhurst, Æneis, I. (Arb.), 28. Of Tyrian virgins too weare thus a quiuer is vsed.
1596. Shaks., Tam. Shr., II. i. 351. My hangings all of tirian tapestry.
1634. Milton, Comus, 342. Thou shalt be our star of Arcady, Or Tyrian Cynosure.
1746. Francis, trans. Horace, Sat., II. iv. 102. What! sweep with dirty broom a floor inlaid, Or on foul couches Tyrian carpets spread?
1893. M. G. Easton, Illustr. Bible Dict. (1894), 677/1. Tyrian merchants were the first who ventured to navigate the Mediterranean waters.
b. spec. In reference or allusion to the purple or crimson dye anciently made at Tyre from certain mollusks: see PURPLE B. I a.
1616. Drumm. of Hawth., Poems, I. D iij. Nor Temples spread with Flackes of Virgine Snow, Nor Snow of Cheekes with Tyrian Graine enroll’d.
1693. Dryden, Persius, ii. 117. Another finds the way to dye in Grain, And make Calabrian Wool receive the Tyrian Stain. Ibid. (1700), Secular Masque, 56. The sprightly green has drunk the Tyrian dye [i.e., blood].
1738. Gentl. Mag., VIII. 211/1. ’Tis true, my form no Tyrian purples grace.
1877. G. F. Maclear, St. Mark, vii. (1879), 85. The dyes of the celebrated Tyrian purple.
1890. Billings, Med. Dict., Tyrian blue, aniline dye, of violet color; a nuclear stain for alcoholic preparations.
B. sb. A native or inhabitant of Tyre.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, I. viii. 141. Betuix ane Troiane and ane Tiriane Na difference. Ibid., xi. 82. Ȝow, my awin Tirianis.
c. 1614. Sir W. Mure, Dido & Æneas, I. 511. Even so the Tyrians, some a stately stage On arches rais’d for comedyes ereck.
1770. J. Z. Holwell, Orig. Princ. Anc. Bramins, viii. § 125 (1779), 165. The histories of the ancient Phenicians, Tyrians, and Carthaginians.
1893. M. G. Easton, Illustr. Bible Dict. (1894), 677/1. In the time of David, a friendly alliance was entered into between the Hebrews and the Tyrians.
C. Comb., as Tyrian-dyed, -hued adjs.
1862. Fanny Caprice, in Peterson’s Mag., XLI. Jan., 28/2. In the central, stately room, rich with Tyrian-dyed curtains.
1903. Agnes M. Clerke, Probl. Astrophysics, 259. To put off its crocus-veil and shine Tyrian-hued.
1910. Sat. Westm. Gaz., 19 Feb., 6/1. The Tyrian-dyed curtain.
