'phyric' originates in modern scientific (New Latin/English) usage as an adjective formed from the combining element '-phyric' used in petrology to mean 'bearing phenocrysts'. The formation is linked conceptually to 'phenocryst' (from Greek phaínō 'to show, appear').

'phyric' emerged in 19th–20th century geological literature as a concise petrological adjective (e.g. 'plagioclase-phyric') equivalent to 'phenocrystic' or 'porphyritic', and became a standard descriptive term in petrography.

Initially coined as technical shorthand for 'bearing phenocrysts'; its meaning has remained narrowly technical and continues to denote the presence of conspicuous crystals in a finer groundmass.