porcelain

Tweet

noun por·ce·lain \ˈpȯr-s(ə-)lən\

: a hard, white substance that is very delicate and that is made by baking clay

Full Definition of PORCELAIN

1

:  a hard, fine-grained, sonorous, nonporous, and usually translucent and white ceramic ware that consists essentially of kaolin, quartz, and a feldspathic rock and is fired at a high temperature —called also hard-paste porcelain, true porcelain

2

:  soft-paste porcelain

— por·ce·lain·like \-ˌlīk\ adjective

— por·ce·la·ne·ous or por·cel·la·ne·ous \ˌpȯr-sə-ˈlā-nē-əs\ adjective

Beat your friends at SCRABBLE^® with our
official Word Finder Tool »

Examples of PORCELAIN

1. The bowl is made of porcelain.

Origin of PORCELAIN

Middle French porcelaine cowrie shell, porcelain, from Italian porcellana, from porcello vulva, literally, little pig, from Latin porcellus, diminutive of porcus pig, vulva; from the shape of the shell — more at farrow

First Known Use: circa 1530

porcelain

noun por·ce·lain \ˈpōr-s(ə-)lən, ˈpȯr-\   (Medical Dictionary)

Medical Definition of PORCELAIN

:  a hard, fine-grained, nonporous, and usually translucent and white ceramic ware that consists essentially of kaolin, quartz, and feldspar and that has many uses in dentistry