celadon
[sel-uh-don, -dn]
- any of several Chinese porcelains having a translucent, pale green glaze.
- any porcelain imitating these.
- a pale gray-green.
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- having the color celadon.
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Origin of celadon
1760–70; named after Céladon, name of a character in L' Astrée, a tale by H. d'Urfé (1568–1625), French writer
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for celadon
Historical Examples
The "Celadon and Amelia" is dingy, and poor in all respects.
This is the celadon to which reference has already been made.
The Gates of IndiaThomas Holdich
They reproduce the finest colors of the Celadon porcelain of Svres.
Travels in South KensingtonMoncure Daniel Conway
The larger was celadon green; the smaller, off-white, was glowing, gleaming.
Sugar PlumReginald Bretnor
Celadon, poetical name for a languid swain, all sighs and longings.
The Nuttall EncyclopaediaEdited by Rev. James Wood
celadon
- a type of porcelain having a greyish-green glaze: mainly Chinese
- a pale greyish-green colour, sometimes somewhat yellow
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Word Origin
C18: from French, from the name of the shepherd hero of L'Astrée (1610), a romance by Honoré d'Urfé
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for celadon
n.
"pale grayish-green," 1768, from French Céladon, name of a character in the romance of "l'Astrée" by Honoré d'Urfé (1610); an insipidly sentimental lover who wore bright green clothes, he is named in turn after Greek Keladon, a character in Ovid's "Metamorphoses," whose name is said to mean "sounding with din or clamor." The mineral celadonite (1868) is so called for its color.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper