porcelain
/ˈpɔːs(ə)lɪn
/noun [mass noun]
1A white vitrified translucent ceramic; china: [as modifier]: a porcelain bowl...See also hard-paste, soft-paste.
- She dipped the tips of her fingers into the scented water that had been laid before her, in china and porcelain bowls as white as the cloth upon which all the dishes had been placed.
- The unusually fine clay yielded a porcelain china that was translucent with a glass-like finish.
- Use a pot of white porcelain or glazed earthenware, with its edge partly serrated and provided with a lid, the skirt of which fits loosely inside
1.1 [count noun] (usually porcelains) An article made of porcelain: the paintings, porcelains, and prints that go on the block...
- He decorated the gallery walls and populated vitrines with avian paintings, porcelains, books and prints.
- In addition to original colors and exactly reproduced textiles, almost all of the furnishings, including furniture, silver, porcelains, and portraits, belonged to Andrew Jackson.
- Living in Sydney, he has had time to recall childhood experiences such as pressing his nose up against windows in the Summer Palace of the Forbidden City to see the antique porcelains contained within.
1.2Porcelain articles collectively: a collection of Chinese porcelain...
- These will include articles of wood, porcelain, jewellery, and a wide variety of gift and handmade items.
- Wonderful collections of porcelain, pictures and furniture seemed to greet us in every room.
- It is lavishly furnished with outstanding collections such as Chinese porcelain and Renaissance paintings.
Derivatives
porcellaneous
- For example, some Triassic cornuspirids appear to possess a microgranular wall rather than a porcellaneous wall, and thus could be classified as Fusulinida.
- Only very fine-grained facies referred to as porcellaneous have provided biostratigraphically indicative fauna, i.e. calpionellids.
- This soon rejoins the main passage, and before long the floor breaks through the porcellaneous band, and the passage develops into a somewhat more pleasant vadose trench.
porcellanous
Origin
Mid 16th century: from French porcelaine, from Italian porcellana 'cowrie shell', hence 'chinaware' (from its resemblance to the dense polished shells).