a strong, vitreous, translucent ceramic material, biscuit-fired at a low temperature, the glaze then fired at a very high temperature.
ware made from this.
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 (see pork, -elle) + -ano-an
OTHER WORDS FROM porcelain
por·ce·la·ne·ous,por·cel·la·ne·ous[pawr-suh-ley-nee-uhs, pohr-], /ˌpɔr səˈleɪ ni əs, ˌpoʊr-/, adjective
Meyer, who shares her brother’s slight build, porcelain features and dark chestnut hair, lobbied Freddie Mac in person on behalf of Kushner Companies in February last year, a timeline of the deal obtained by ProPublica shows.
The Kushners’ Freddie Mac Loan Wasn’t Just Massive. It Came With Unusually Good Terms, Too.|by Heather Vogell|October 1, 2020|ProPublica
These durable, porcelain cups can hold 4 ounces of liquid with a little bit of room at the top, perfect for a cappuccino.
Gear to make every day feel like National Coffee Day|PopSci Commerce Team|September 29, 2020|Popular Science
Goldblum, himself looking prim with a porcelain saucer and teacup in hand, says he found this “wildly touching.”
Jeff Goldblum Says Justin Bieber Should Play Him in ‘Jurassic Park’ Reboot|Melissa Leon|March 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
So how the hell do you work with a Belle Époque, over-the-top, over-gilded house full of French porcelain and furniture?
The Writer and the Potter: Edmund De Waal on his New York Debut|Iain Millar|September 12, 2013|DAILY BEAST
This is done by an artist who looks at the makeup [from the show] and replicates it onto the porcelain.
Inside Viktor & Rolf’s Dollhouse|Isabel Wilkinson|June 10, 2013|DAILY BEAST
It eats through and corrodes the porcelain and then the wood flooring beneath it and, boom, down it comes.
Her skin was porcelain, her cheeks hollow, and her hair had been cut into high, blunt bangs.
The Great Transformation of Rooney Mara Into Lisbeth Salander|Isabel Wilkinson|January 12, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Porcelain bath tubs and running hot water were found in Hongkong, the first we noted since leaving South Africa.
Seven Legs Across the Seas|Samuel Murray
The glass and porcelain money on Yap must have come from China or Japan.
Folkways|William Graham Sumner
He chanced to take the direction to a recess between the book-case and the porcelain cabinet.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 1 (of 4)|Jane Porter
"Good gracious," said the hen when she discovered a porcelain egg on the nest.
The New Pun Book|Thomas A. Brown and Thomas Joseph Carey
She approached the Porcelain in a chastened mood that Sabbath morning.
Ade's Fables|George Ade
British Dictionary definitions for porcelain
porcelain
/ (ˈpɔːslɪn, -leɪn, ˈpɔːsə-) /
noun
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
an object made of this or such objects collectively
(modifier)of, relating to, or made from this materiala porcelain cup
Derived forms of porcelain
porcellaneous (ˌpɔːsəˈleɪnɪəs), adjective
Word Origin for porcelain
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