por·ce·lain

[pawr-suh-lin, pohr-; pawrs-lin, pohrs-]
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; < French porcelaine < Italian porcellana orig., a type of cowry shell, apparently likened to the vulva of a sow, noun use of feminine of porcellano of a young sow, equivalent to porcell(a), diminutive of porca sow (see pork, -elle) + -ano -an

por·ce·la·ne·ous, por·cel·la·ne·ous [pawr-suh-ley-nee-uhs, pohr-] , adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To porcelain
00:10
Porcelain is always a great word to know.
So is zedonk. Does it mean:
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
Collins
World English Dictionary
porcelain (ˈpɔːslɪn, -leɪn, ˈpɔːsə-) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
1.  a more or less translucent ceramic material, the principal ingredients being kaolin and petuntse (hard paste) or other clays, ground glassy substances, soapstone, bone ash, etc
2.  an object made of this or such objects collectively
3.  (modifier) of, relating to, or made from this material: a porcelain cup
 
[C16: from French porcelaine, from Italian porcellana cowrie shell, porcelain (from its shell-like finish), literally: relating to a sow (from the resemblance between a cowrie shell and a sow's vulva), from porcella little sow, from porca sow, from Latin; see pork]
 
porcellaneous
 
adj

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
Experts in rare coins, porcelain and other arcane areas have been laid off or turned into consultants.
Put in a granite or porcelain-lined preserving kettle, and add cold water to come nearly to top of apples.
So insignificant was the porcelain pissoir at the time that no one can remember exactly what happened to it.
Pottery, porcelain and the casting cores of bronzes can be dated by the amount of radiation the piece absorbs.
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