porcelain
Americannoun
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a strong, vitreous, translucent ceramic material, biscuit-fired at a low temperature, the glaze then fired at a very high temperature.
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ware made from this.
noun
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a more or less translucent ceramic material, the principal ingredients being kaolin and petuntse (hard paste) or other clays, ground glassy substances, soapstone, bone ash, etc
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an object made of this or such objects collectively
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(modifier) of, relating to, or made from this material
a porcelain cup
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of porcelain
1520–30; < French porcelaine < Italian porcellana originally, a type of cowry shell, apparently likened to the vulva of a sow, noun use of feminine of porcellano of a young sow, equivalent to porcell ( a ), diminutive of porca sow ( see pork, -elle) + -ano -an
Explanation
Your mom's favorite white china plates are probably made out of porcelain. Porcelain is a nearly translucent ceramic material used to make plates, bowls, and cups. The dishes at a fancy restaurant are often porcelain, a fine, delicate kind of china. Sometimes knickknacks, dolls, and art objects are also made from porcelain. The word comes from the Italian word for "cowrie shell," porcellana, which compares the shiny look of porcelain to the polished inside of a shell. Porcelain has a tricky spelling — although it ends with ain, it rhymes with ten, not rain.
Vocabulary lists containing porcelain
The House on Mango Street
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Brown Girl Dreaming
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White
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
My dad liked to say that trust is like fine porcelain: easy to break and hard to repair.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 19, 2026
Sailing west across the Pacific for three months, the ships brought silver coins from Spain's American colonies to Manila, where they would be exchanged for luxury goods like silk, porcelain and jade from China.
From Barron's • Apr. 28, 2026
Dolce & Gabbana has been targeting new markets including hospitality and furniture, where its latest collection offers items such as a leopard-print porcelain vase costing £1,084.
From BBC • Apr. 10, 2026
Not the silken, restaurant version piped into porcelain.
From Salon • Mar. 1, 2026
Low voices, the clatter of porcelain and metal.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
