porcelain
Americannoun
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a strong, vitreous, translucent ceramic material, biscuit-fired at a low temperature, the glaze then fired at a very high temperature.
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ware made from this.
noun
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a more or less translucent ceramic material, the principal ingredients being kaolin and petuntse (hard paste) or other clays, ground glassy substances, soapstone, bone ash, etc
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an object made of this or such objects collectively
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(modifier) of, relating to, or made from this material
a porcelain cup
Other Word Forms
- porcelaneous adjective
- porcellaneous adjective
Etymology
Origin of porcelain
1520–30; < French porcelaine < Italian porcellana originally, a type of cowry shell, apparently likened to the vulva of a sow, noun use of feminine of porcellano of a young sow, equivalent to porcell ( a ), diminutive of porca sow ( pork, -elle ) + -ano -an
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Not the silken, restaurant version piped into porcelain.
From Salon
Maggie had brown hair, dark eyes, skin like a porcelain doll.
From Literature
As he walked along the ship’s corridor past doorways that led into rooms filled with pretty objects, including porcelain plates and decorative silverware, Duane was reminded of Handsome’s afternoon tea in three days’ time.
From Literature
Everything is installed on earthquake hangers, “so we aren’t showered in a downpour of porcelain.”
From Los Angeles Times
He is bearded and buff; she is a porcelain doll with Wednesday Addams hair and skin.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
