porcelain

CEFRB2

/ˈpɔːsəlɪn/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A hard white material used for fine dishes and objects.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    Synonym of china: porcelain tableware.

Examples

  • Last night I prayed to the porcelain god.

  • Mary is a porcelain maker.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
4
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • /ˈpoːs(ɘ)lɘn/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. Synonym of kaolin: the kind of clay traditionally used in China to manufacture porcelain.

  2. A hard white translucent ceramic, originally made by firing kaolin, quartz, and feldspar at high temperatures but now also inclusive of similar artificial materials; also often (figurative) such a material as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.

  3. An object made of porcelain, (particularly) art objects or items of tableware.

More examples

In context

  • He set the table with our porcelain and stemware.

  • iij. potts of Erthe payntid, callyd Porseland.

  • Tableware and toilets are both made of porcelain.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The delicate blank vase was carefully packed in foam to avoid breaking.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

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.