porcelain

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a hard, fine, usually white and translucent ceramic fired at a high temperature

   The museum displayed a delicate bowl made of blue-and-white porcelain.

2. 2
   noun

   objects or tableware made from this ceramic

   The cabinet held several pieces of eighteenth-century porcelain.

3. 3
   adj

   made of porcelain or resembling it in smoothness, paleness, or delicacy

   The doll had a painted porcelain face.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Porcelain was borrowed in the 16th century from French porcelain, originally the name of the glossy cowrie shell, because imported Chinese porcelain had a similar sheen. The French word came from Italian porcellana, “cowrie shell” and later “porcelain,” derived from porcella, “young sow,” ultimately from Latin porcus, “pig.”

Through French porcelaine from Italian porcellana, originally "cowrie shell," from porcella, "young sow." Europeans transferred the shell's name to fine Chinese ceramic because its smooth, pale, translucent surface resembled a cowrie shell.

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