PORCELAIN


Meaning of PORCELAIN in English

transcription, транскрипция: [ ˈpȯr-s(ə-)lən ]

noun

Etymology: Middle French porcelaine cowrie shell, porcelain, from Italian porcellana, from porcello vulva, literally, little pig, from Latin porcellus, diminutive of porcus pig, vulva; from the shape of the shell — more at farrow

Date: circa 1530

1. : a hard, fine-grained, sonorous, nonporous, and usually translucent and white ceramic ware that consists essentially of kaolin, quartz, and a feldspathic rock and is fired at a high temperature — called also hard-paste porcelain, true porcelain

2. : soft-paste porcelain

• por·ce·lain·like -ˌlīk adjective

• por·ce·la·ne·ous or por·cel·la·ne·ous ˌpȯr-sə-ˈlā-nē-əs adjective

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate English vocabulary.      Энциклопедический словарь английского языка Merriam Webster.