ceramics
Americannoun
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ceramics
plural
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(used with a singular verb) the art or technology of making objects of clay and similar materials treated by firing.
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(used with a plural verb) articles of earthenware, porcelain, etc.
noun
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Derived Forms
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Nouns
Etymology
Origin of ceramics
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How does ceramics compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
The branch of art known as ceramics is all about making pottery. A ceramics class might teach you to make a bowl from clay using a pottery wheel. In ceramics, artists pinch cups and figures from clay, and create bowls, plates, and pots by spinning and shaping the clay on a wheel. Most of these items — which can also be called ceramics — are glazed or painted, and baked in an extremely hot oven. The word ceramics comes from the Greek word keramos, "potter's clay," or "tiles."
Vocabulary lists containing ceramics
Visual Arts - Introductory
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Visual Arts - High School
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Visual Arts - Middle School
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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.
Inside, the school has high ceilings and big windows, a 300-seat auditorium, a gym, a ceramics studio and a court for a soccer variant called futsal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
Scavengers would dig up artifacts like gold coins and porcelain doll heads, and Bayouth admired their aged, archival qualities, a theme that takes shape in her ceramics.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
The Etruscans are also known for their bucchero ceramics, pottery they made with an inventive process that turns red clay into glossy black pieces, which they sometimes incised.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
Auctioneer Ben Rogers Jones says Young's name carries "real weight" among collectors of Welsh ceramics, but his original watercolours "rarely appear on the market"
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
Judging by carbon dating and the sequence of ceramics, they believe the site was inhabited in two waves, from about 360 b.c., when terra preta formation began, to as late as 1440 a.d.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
