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• delft
  delft

  noun

  earthenware having an opaque white glaze with an overglaze decoration, usually in blue.
• Delft
  Delft

  noun

  a city in W Netherlands.

delft

¹ American  

[delft] / dɛlft /

Also delf

noun

1. earthenware having an opaque white glaze with an overglaze decoration, usually in blue.

2. any pottery resembling this.

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Delft ² American  

[delft] / dɛlft /

noun

1. a city in W Netherlands.

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Delft British  

/ dɛlft /

noun

1. a town in the SW Netherlands, in South Holland province. Pop: 97 000 (2003 est)

2. Also called: delftware.  tin-glazed earthenware made in Delft since the 17th century, typically having blue decoration on a white ground

3. a similar earthenware made in England

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Etymology

Origin of delft

First recorded in 1705–15; after Delft

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

delft Delft

The gently moving backdrops, painted deep delft blue, looked like they had sprung from a sumptuous picture book.

From New York Times ● Jul. 13, 2018

Key pieces: Call us old-fashioned, but our favorite piece was a more traditional delft blue twill suit.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2014

Royal weddings were routinely marked with goblets or delft plates, but it was not until the coronation of King George II in 1727 that manufacturers were allowed to reproduce the monarch's likeness.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 20, 2011

Inside, the three small rooms are crowded with sets of delft and willow china, old candlesticks, clocks, andirons, fenders, high-backed chairs and the like.

From Lippincott's Magazine, Vol. 22, November, 1878 of Popular Literature and Science by Various

"Owd Sammy Craddock" rose from his chair, and going to the mantel-piece, took down a tobacco jar of red and yellow delft, and proceeded to fill his pipe with solemn ceremony.

From That Lass O' Lowrie's 1877 by Frances Hodgson Burnett

One of those is Powall, a start-up in the Dutch city of Delft that is developing commercial-scale equipment for nanocoating the powders that are the raw materials of today's batteries.

From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026

After 1657 he painted largely on behalf of Pieter van Ruijven and Maria de Knuijt, a wealthy Delft couple.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026

Lillian Disney, a connoisseur of flowers, would die before the hall was finished, but its hidden rear garden is centered around the “Rose for Lilly” fountain, composed of thousands of broken blue-and-white Delft china pieces.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 5, 2025

And in the 12 months since they have been operating the Marine Application Centre in Delft, they have already built a prototype 12m fast boat, similar to a RIB, for the Dutch Navy.

From BBC ● Nov. 27, 2025

At one point we made out a tower that Betsie was sure was the cathedral at Delft.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom