celadon

[sel-uh-don, -dn]

noun

any of several Chinese porcelains having a translucent, pale green glaze.

any porcelain imitating these.

a pale gray-green.

adjective

having the color celadon.

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. 2019

Examples from the Web for celadon

Historical Examples of celadon

The "Celadon and Amelia" is dingy, and poor in all respects.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 54, No. 334, August 1843
Various
This is the celadon to which reference has already been made.
The Gates of India
Thomas Holdich
They reproduce the finest colors of the Celadon porcelain of Svres.
Travels in South Kensington
Moncure Daniel Conway
The larger was celadon green; the smaller, off-white, was glowing, gleaming.
Sugar Plum
Reginald Bretnor
Celadon, poetical name for a languid swain, all sighs and longings.
The Nuttall Encyclopaedia
Edited by Rev. James Wood

British Dictionary definitions for celadon

celadon

noun

a type of porcelain having a greyish-green glaze: mainly Chinese

a pale greyish-green colour, sometimes somewhat yellow

Word Origin for celadon

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

"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.