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ceramics

[suh-ram-iks]
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noun
  1. (used with a singular verb) the art or technology of making objects of clay and similar materials treated by firing.
  2. (used with a plural verb) articles of earthenware, porcelain, etc.
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Origin of ceramics

First recorded in 1855–60; see origin at ceramic, -ics

ceramic

[suh-ram-ik]
adjective
  1. of or relating to products made from clay and similar materials, as pottery and brick, or to their manufacture: ceramic art.
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noun
  1. ceramic material.
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Origin of ceramic

1840–50; variant of keramic < Greek keramikós, equivalent to kéram(os) potters' clay + -ikos -ic
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for ceramics

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Ceramics engineering: general ceramics and ceramics engineering; ceramics; ceramics engineering.

    College Teaching

    Paul Klapper

  • The making of ceramics was developed to an art, as was the making of different types of glass.

    Space Prison

    Tom Godwin

  • Naturally my chief solicitude was about my collection of Ceramics.

    A Tramp Abroad, Complete

    Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

  • The ceramics of England are of special interest to the American reader.

    The Ceramic Art

    Jennie J. Young

  • What thickness of ceramics, or fabric, or rubber, or metal remained!

    Double or Nothing

    Jack Sharkey

British Dictionary definitions for ceramics

ceramics

noun
  1. (functioning as singular) the art and techniques of producing articles of clay, porcelain, etc
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Derived Formsceramist (ˈsɛrəmɪst) or ceramicist, noun

ceramic

noun
  1. a hard brittle material made by firing clay and similar substances
  2. an object made from such a material
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adjective
  1. of, relating to, or made from a ceramicthis vase is ceramic
  2. of or relating to ceramicsceramic arts and crafts
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Word Origin

C19: from Greek keramikos, from keramos potter's clay, pottery
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 ceramics

ceramic

adj.

1850, keramic, from Greek keramikos, from keramos "potter's clay, pottery, tiles," perhaps from a pre-Hellenic word. Watkins suggests possible connection with Latin cremare "to burn," but Klein's sources are firmly against this. Spelling influenced by French céramique (1806). Related: ceramist (1855). Ceramics is attested from 1857.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
ceramics in Science

ceramic

[sə-răm′ĭk]
  1. Any of various hard, brittle, heat- and corrosion-resistant materials made typically of metallic elements combined with oxygen or with carbon, nitrogen, or sulfur. Most ceramics are crystalline and are poor conductors of electricity, though some recently discovered copper-oxide ceramics are superconductors at low temperatures.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.