Porcelain - Definitions from Dictionary.com

7 results for: Porcelain

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

por·ce·lain

Audio Help [pawr-suh-lin, pohr-; pawrs-lin, pohrs-] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	a strong, vitreous, translucent ceramic material, biscuit-fired at a low temperature, the glaze then fired at a very high temperature.

2.	ware made from this.

[Origin: 1520–30; < F porcelaine < It porcellana orig., a type of cowry shell, appar. likened to the vulva of a sow, n. use of fem. of porcellano of a young sow, equiv. to porcell(a), dim. of porca sow (see pork, -elle) + -ano -an

]

—Related forms

por·ce·la·ne·ous, por·cel·la·ne·ous

Audio Help [pawr-suh-ley-nee-uh

s, pohr-] Pronunciation Key, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Porcelain

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

por·ce·lain Audio Help (pôr'sə-lĭn, pōr'-, pôrs'lĭn, pōrs'-) Pronunciation Key
n.

A hard, white, translucent ceramic made by firing a pure clay and then glazing it with variously colored fusible materials; china.
An object made of this substance.

[French porcelaine, cowry shell, porcelain, from Old French, from Old Italian porcellana, from feminine of porcellano, of a young sow (from the shell's resemblance to a pig's back), from porcella, young sow, diminutive of porca, sow, from Latin, feminine of porcus, pig; see porko- in Indo-European roots.]

por'ce·la'ne·ous (-lā'nē-əs) adj.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
porcelain

c.1530, from M.Fr. porcelaine, from It. porcellana "porcelain" (13c.), lit. "cowrie shell," the chinaware so called from resemblance to the shiny surface of the shells. The shell's name in It. is from porcella "young sow," fem. of L. porcellus "young pig," dim. of porculus "piglet," dim. of porcus "pig." Supposedly the shells were so called because the shape of the orifice reminded someone of the vaginas of pigs.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

porcelain
noun
ceramic ware made of a more or less translucent ceramic

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
porcelain [ˈpoːsəlin] noun, adjective

(of) a kind of fine china
Example: That dish is made of porcelain; a porcelain figure

Arabic:	خَزَف صيني
Chinese (Simplified):	瓷器
Chinese (Traditional):	瓷器
Czech:	porcelán(ový)
Danish:	porcelæn; porcelæns-
Dutch:	porselein
Estonian:	portselan
Finnish:	posliini
French:	(en) porcelaine
German:	das Porzellan; Porzellan-…
Greek:	πορσελάνη
Hungarian:	porcelán
Icelandic:	postulín
Indonesian:	porselen
Italian:	porcellana; di porcellana*

Japanese:	磁器
Korean:	자기(磁器)
Latvian:	porcelāns
Lithuanian:	porcelianas
Norwegian:	porselen(s-)
Polish:	porcelana, porcelanowy
Portuguese (Brazil):	porcelana
Portuguese (Portugal):	porcelana
Romanian:	(de) porţelan
Russian:	фарфор
Slovak:	porcelán; porcelánový
Slovenian:	porcelan(ski)
Spanish:	(nombre) porcelana; (adjetivo)de porcelana
Swedish:	porslin
Turkish:	porselen

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Porcelain

Chi"na\, n. 1. A country in Eastern Asia.

2. China ware, which is the modern popular term for porcelain. See Porcelain.

China aster (Bot.), a well-known garden flower and plant. See Aster.

China bean. See under Bean, 1.

China clay See Kaolin.

China grass, Same as Ramie.

China ink. See India ink.

China pink (Bot.), an anual or biennial species of Dianthus (D. Chiensis) having variously colored single or double flowers; Indian pink.

China root (Med.), the rootstock of a species of Smilax (S. China, from the East Indies; -- formerly much esteemed for the purposes that sarsaparilla is now used for. Also the galanga root (from Alpinia Gallanga and Alpinia officinarum).

China rose. (Bot.) (a) A popular name for several free-blooming varieties of rose derived from the Rosa Indica, and perhaps other species. (b) A flowering hothouse plant (Hibiscus Rosa-Sinensis) of the Mallow family, common in the gardens of China and the east Indies.

China shop, a shop or store for the sale of China ware or of crockery.

China ware, porcelain; -- so called in the 17th century because brought from the far East, and differing from the pottery made in Europe at that time; also, loosely, crockery in general.

Pride of China, China tree. (Bot.) See Azedarach.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Porcelain

Earth"en*ware`\, n. Vessels and other utensils, ornaments, or the like, made of baked clay. See Crockery, Pottery, Stoneware, and Porcelain.

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