Definition of PORCELAIN

porcelain

Meanings

Plural: porcelains

Noun

  • ceramic ware made of a more or less translucent ceramic
  • A hard white translucent ceramic, originally made by firing kaolin, quartz, and feldspar at high temperatures but now also inclusive of similar artificial materials; also often (figurative) such a material as a symbol of the fragility, elegance, etc. traditionally associated with porcelain goods.
  • Synonym of china: porcelain tableware.
  • Synonym of kaolin: the kind of clay traditionally used in China to manufacture porcelain.
  • An object made of porcelain, (particularly) art objects or items of tableware.
  • Synonym of cowrie.
  • Synonym of wampum: strings of shells, beads, etc. used as ornamentation or currency; the composite shells, beads, etc.
  • A kind of pigeon with deep brown and off-white feathers.

Verb

  • To coat with a porcelain enamel.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle French porcelaine (“cowrie, wampum; china, chinaware”), from Old Italian porcellana (“cowrie; china, chinaware”), from porcella (“female piglet”) + -ana. The material was so called because of its resemblance to the shell of the cowrie. Why the cowrie was named with a word meaning “piglet” is unclear.

Scrabble Score: 13

porcelain is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
porcelain is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
porcelain is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 17

porcelain is a valid Words With Friends word