pottery

noun

pot·​tery ˈpä-tə-rē 

plural potteries

1

: a place where clayware is made and fired

2

a

: the art or craft of the potter

b

: the manufacture of clayware

3

: clayware

especially : earthenware as distinguished from porcelain and stoneware and from brick and tile

Synonyms of pottery

• ceramics

Examples of pottery in a Sentence

He has collected pottery for years.

She was a painter for years before she discovered pottery.

Recent Examples on the Web

Excavations frequently uncover thousands of fragments of pottery, metal objects, and other artifacts, sometimes scattered across large areas. — Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 1 Nov. 2026

Berlant was a collector of both ancient Southwest pottery and Paleolithic stone objects. — Deborah Vankin, Los Angeles Times, 29 Oct. 2026

Occasionally, an artifact such as a piece of pottery is so well-preserved that even its creator’s signature is still legible thousands of years later. — Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 28 Oct. 2026

The person buried there is believed to have belonged to the Linear Pottery culture — named for the distinctive spiral and wavy patterns decorating its pottery. — Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 17 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for pottery

• cautery
• lottery
• watery
• electrocautery

Kids Definition

pottery

noun

pot·​tery ˈpät-ə-rē 

plural potteries

1

: a place where clay articles (as pots and vases) are made

2

: the art of the potter : ceramics

3

: articles made from clay that is shaped while moist and hardened by heat