porcelain
UK /ˈpɔːsəlɪn/ · US /ˈpɔɹs(ə)lɪn/ noun, verb
Forms porcelains porcelaining porcelained
- noun (usually uncountable) A hard white translucent ceramic, originally made by firing kaolin, quartz, and feldspar at high temperatures but now also inclusive of similar artificial materials; also often (figurative) such a material as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. “Tableware and toilets are both made of porcelain.”
- noun (usually uncountable) Synonym of china: porcelain tableware. “He set the table with our porcelain and stemware.”
- noun (uncountable, obsolete) Synonym of kaolin: the kind of clay traditionally used in China to manufacture porcelain.
- noun (countable, now usually in the plural) An object made of porcelain, (particularly) art objects or items of tableware. “The museum has an extensive collection of rare Chinese porcelains.”
- noun (countable, rare) Synonym of cowrie.
- noun (countable, obsolete or historical) Synonym of wampum: strings of shells, beads, etc. used as ornamentation or currency; the composite shells, beads, etc.
- noun (countable, often capitalized) A kind of pigeon with deep brown and off-white feathers.
- noun (programming, Git) The set of Git commands, such as `git commit` or `git checkout`, which control the high-level state of the repository, each typically combining the behaviour of multiple plumbing commands.
- verb (transitive) To coat with a porcelain enamel.
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French porcelaine (“cowrie, wampum; china, chinaware”), from Old Italian porcellana (“cowrie; china, chinaware”), from Italian porcello (“piglet”). 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.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Purslain. [Obs.]
- noun A fine translucent or semitransculent kind of earthenware, made first in China and Japan, but now also in Europe and America; --called also China, or China ware.
Etymology [F. porcelaine, It. porcellana, orig., the porcelain shell, or Venus shell (Cypræa porcellana), from a dim. fr. L. porcus pig, probably from the resemblance of the shell in shape to a pig's back. Porcelain was called after this shell, either on account of its smoothness and whiteness, or because it was believed to be made from it. See Pork.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “porcelain”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details