porcelain

por·ce·lain   (pôr'sə-lĭn, pōr'-, pôrs'lĭn, pōrs'-)    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.

Main Entry: por·ce·lain
Pronunciation: 'pOr-s(&-)l&n, 'por-
Function: noun
: a hard, fine-grained, nonporous, and usually translucentand white ceramic ware that consists essentially of kaolin, quartz, and feldspar and that has many uses in dentistry