porcelain
porcelain Lexical Profile
porcelain Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Made of or relating to the hard, white, translucent ceramic known as porcelain.
"The antique dealer carefully wrapped the porcelain teacup in tissue paper before packing it."
Resembling porcelain in being exceptionally smooth, pale, flawless, or delicate, especially in reference to a person's skin or complexion.
"The portrait captured the subject's porcelain complexion and striking dark eyes."
• noun
A hard, fine-grained, sonorous, non-porous, and usually translucent white ceramic material made by firing kaolin and other minerals at high temperatures.
"Craftsmen in Jingdezhen have produced exquisite blue-and-white porcelain for centuries."
Dishes, vases, figurines, or other ornamental and domestic objects made from this ceramic material.
"The museum's East Asian gallery features a remarkable collection of Ming dynasty porcelains."
• Rhymes for porcelain
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed via Middle French porcelaine from Italian porcellana ('cowrie shell'), a derivative of Latin porcellus ('young pig'), because the curved, glossy opening of the shell resembled a piglet's anatomy and matched the smooth, translucent finish of fine Chinese ceramics.