Porcelain is a hard, shiny substance made by heating clay. It is used to make delicate cups, plates, and ornaments.
…tall white porcelain vases.
2. variable noun
A porcelain is an ornament that is made of porcelain. You can refer to a number of such ornaments as porcelain.
...decorative 17th and 18th century porcelains.
...a priceless collection of English porcelain.
Synonyms: china, ware, fine bone china, porcelain ware More Synonyms of porcelain
porcelain in British English
(ˈpɔːslɪn, -leɪn, ˈpɔːsə-)
noun
1.
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
2.
an object made of this or such objects collectively
3. (modifier)
of, relating to, or made from this material
a porcelain cup
Derived forms
porcellaneous (ˌpɔːsəˈleɪnɪəs)
adjective
Word origin
C16: from French porcelaine, from Italian porcellana cowrie shell, porcelain (from its shell-like finish), literally: relating to a sow(from the resemblance between a cowrie shell and a sow's vulva), from porcella little sow, from porca sow, from Latin; see pork
porcelain in American English
(ˈpɔrsəlɪn; ˈpɔrslɪn)
noun
1.
a hard, white, nonporous, translucent variety of ceramic ware, made of kaolin, feldspar, and quartz or flint
2.
porcelain dishes or ornaments, collectively
adjective
3.
made of porcelain
Derived forms
porcelaneous (ˌporceˈlaneous) (ˈpɔrsəˈleɪniəs)
adjective or ˌporcelˈlaneous
Word origin
Fr porcelaine < It porcellana, orig., a kind of shell < porcella, little pig, vulva (< L porcellus, dim. of porcus, pig, vulva): see farrow1
Examples of 'porcelain' in a sentence
porcelain
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Those porcelain cups and saucers are just crying out to be enjoyed with dainty pastries.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Her dark curls framed her porcelain skin and full lips.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
The bathroom suite is white against beige porcelain tiles.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
They cut down teeth and go for a full sweep of white porcelain.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Everyone coveted a fine porcelain cup and saucer.
The Times Literary Supplement (2008)
He got an interior designer to put white porcelain tiles in his bathroom.
The Sun (2010)
Inside he displayed a huge collection of Chinese porcelain.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
Yet they are porcelain dolls, with a refinement just too remote.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
Times have changed and many of the world's most beautiful women have gorgeous porcelain skin.
The Sun (2010)
She has porcelain skin, rosy lips and a tiny waist.
The Sun (2013)
Her face was ghostly white, like porcelain.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
If you have a family, you can always put the bath onto planks of wood or porcelain floor tiles.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Apply your chosen shade all over your eyelids and underneath your lower lash line to make your eyes stand out and give skin a porcelain finish.
The Sun (2013)
I had this big porcelain doll.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
It beat the previous world record for Chinese porcelain of 20million.
The Sun (2010)
If you can't afford parquet wood flooring, fake it with porcelain tiles.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Her porcelain skin is tightly pulled and obviously scarred, but she's beautiful.
The Sun (2013)
Portraits were hanging on the walls, and near the white porcelain stove stood two large Chinese vases with lions on the covers.
Hans Christian Andersen Andersen's Fairy Tales (1874)
In other languages
porcelain
British English: porcelain NOUN
Porcelain is a hard, shiny substance made by heating clay. It is used to make delicate cups, plates, and ornaments.
There were flowers everywhere in tall white porcelain vases.
American English: porcelain
Brazilian Portuguese: porcelana
Chinese: 瓷
European Spanish: porcelana
French: porcelaine
German: Porzellan
Italian: porcellana
Japanese: 磁器
Korean: 자기
European Portuguese: porcelana
Latin American Spanish: porcelana
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All related terms of 'porcelain'
porcelain clay
a fine white clay used for the manufacture of hard-paste porcelain and bone china and in medicine as a poultice and gastrointestinal absorbent
porcelain ware
articles made of porcelain , such as plates and cups
eggshell porcelain
a type of very thin translucent porcelain originally made in China
Dresden china
porcelain ware , esp delicate and elegantly decorative objects and figures of high quality, made at Meissen , near Dresden , since 1710
Worcester china
porcelain articles made in Worcester (England) from 1751 in a factory that became, in 1862, the Royal Worcester Porcelain Company