porcelain

Meaning

Noun

1. (uncountable, usually) A hard white translucent ceramic, originally made by firing kaolin, quartz, and feldspar at high temperatures but now also inclusive of similar artificial materials; also often (figurative) such a material as a symbol of the fragility, elegance, etc. traditionally associated with porcelain goods.
2. (uncountable, usually) Synonym of china: porcelain tableware.
3. (obsolete, uncountable) Synonym of kaolin: the kind of clay traditionally used in China to manufacture porcelain.
4. (countable, plural-normally) An object made of porcelain, (particularly) art objects or items of tableware.
5. (countable, rare) Synonym of cowrie.
6. (countable, historical, obsolete) Synonym of wampum: strings of shells, beads, etc. used as ornamentation or currency; the composite shells, beads, etc.
7. (capitalized, countable, often) A kind of pigeon with deep brown and off-white feathers.

Verb

To coat with a porcelain enamel.

Synonyms

china

chinaware

earthenware

pottery

ceramics

China

bone china

crockery

enamelware

Chinaware

porcelain ware

true porcelain

hard paste porcelain

ceramic

china clay

kaolin

opaque

tile

translucence

translucent

porcellaneous

Translations

porcelaine

Porzellan

porcelana

porcellana

porcelana

πορσελάνη

porselein

porcellana

porselen

خزف

porcelana

بورسلان

en porcelaine

πορσελάνα

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈpɔːsəlɪn/

Etymology

From Middle French porcelaine (“cowrie, wampum; china, chinaware”), from Old Italian porcellana (“cowrie; china, chinaware”), from porcella (“female piglet”) + -ana. The material was so called because of its resemblance to the shell of the cowrie. Why the cowrie was named with a word meaning “piglet” is unclear.