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Webster 1913 Edition


Porcelain

Por′ce-lain

,
Noun.
(Bot.)
Purslain.
[Obs.]

Por′ce-lain

(277)
,
Noun.
[F.
porcelaine
, It.
porcellana
, orig., the porcelain shell, or Venus shell (
Cypræa porcellana
), from a dim. fr. L.
porcus
pig, probably from the resemblance of the shell in shape to a pig’s back. Porcelain was called after this shell, either on account of its smoothness and whiteness, or because it was believed to be made from it. See
Pork
.]
A fine translucent or semitransculent kind of earthenware, made first in China and Japan, but now also in Europe and America; – called also
China
, or
China ware
.
Porcelain
, by being pure, is apt to break.
Dryden.
Ivory porcelain
,
porcelain with a surface like ivory, produced by depolishing. See
Depolishing
.
Porcelain clay
.
See under
Clay
.
Porcelain crab
(Zool.)
,
any crab of the genus
Porcellana
and allied genera (family
Porcellanidæ
). They have a smooth, polished carapace.
Porcelain jasper
.
(Min.)
Porcelain printing
,
the transferring of an impression of an engraving to porcelain.
Porcelain shell
(Zool.)
,
a cowry.

Webster 1828 Edition


Porcelain

POR'CELAIN

,
Noun.
[L. portulaca.]
1.
The finest species of earthen ware, originally manufactured in China and Japan, but now made in several European countries. All earthen wares which are white and semi-transparent, are called porcelains, but they differ much in their fineness and beauty. The porcelain of China is said to be made of two species of earth, the petuntse, which is fusible, and the kaolin, which is not fusible, or not with the degree of heat which fuses the petuntse, and that in porcelain the substances are only semi-vitrified, or one substance only is vitrified, the other not. Hence it is concluded that porcelain is an intermediate substance between earth and glass. Hence the second degree of fusibility, of which emollescence is the first, is called by Kirwan the porcelain state.
2.
The plant called purslain, which see.

Definition 2024


porcelain

porcelain

English

Noun

porcelain (countable and uncountable, plural porcelains)

  1. (usually uncountable) A hard, white, translucent ceramic that is made by firing kaolin and other materials; china.
  2. (usually countable) Anything manufactured from this material.

Derived terms

Translations

References

  • Krueger, Dennis (December 1982). "Why On Earth Do They Call It Throwing?" Studio Potter Vol. 11, Number 1.