porcelain
(noun) ceramic ware made of a more or less translucent ceramic
Source: WordNet® 3.1
porcelain (countable and uncountable, plural porcelains)
(usually, uncountable) A hard white translucent ceramic, originally made by firing kaolin, quartz, and feldspar at high temperatures but now also inclusive of similar artificial materials; also often (figurative) such a material as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.
(usually, uncountable) synonym of china: porcelain tableware.
(uncountable, obsolete) synonym of kaolin: the kind of clay traditionally used in China to manufacture porcelain.
(countable, now usually plural) An object made of porcelain, (particularly) art objects or items of tableware.
(countable, now rare) synonym of cowrie.
(countable, obsolete or historic) synonym of wampum: strings of shells, beads, etc. used as ornamentation or currency; the composite shells, beads, etc.
(countable, often capitalized) A kind of pigeon with deep brown and off-white feathers.
• material ceramic, earthenware
• hard-paste, soft-paste / softpaste
• (all senses): china
• (porcelain tableware): chinaware
Source: Wiktionary
Por"ce*lain, n. (Bot.)
Definition: Purslain. [Obs.]
Por"ce*lain (277), n. Etym: [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.]
Definition: 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 (Zoöl.), any crab of the genus Porcellana and allied genera (family Porcellanidæ). They have a smooth, polished carapace.
– Porcelain jasper. (Min.) See Porcelanite.
– Porcelain printing, the transferring of an impression of an engraving to porcelain.
– Porcelain shell (Zoöl.), a cowry.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
3 April 2025
(noun) an assemblage of parts that is regarded as a single entity; “how big is that part compared to the whole?”; “the team is a unit”
International Coffee Day (September 29) is an occasion to promote and celebrate coffee as a beverage, with events occurring in places across the world. A day to promote fair trade coffee and raise awareness for the coffee growers’ plight. Other countries celebrate this event on October 1.
