ceramics

[suh-ram-iks]

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noun

(used with a singular verb) the art or technology of making objects of clay and similar materials treated by firing.

(used with a plural verb) articles of earthenware, porcelain, etc.

Origin of ceramics

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

ceramic

[suh-ram-ik]

adjective

of or relating to products made from clay and similar materials, as pottery and brick, or to their manufacture: ceramic art.

noun

ceramic material.

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. 2019

Related Words for ceramics

wares, china, slipware, terracotta

Examples from the Web for ceramics

Contemporary Examples of ceramics

The Daily Pic: James Hyde combines painting, ceramics and photography.
Painteramicography?
Blake Gopnik
May 15, 2012
The photo's blues and oranges seem to echo some of the greatest Islamic ceramics.
Newsweek's Liohn Roars
Blake Gopnik
April 25, 2012
I also love strolling around Chinatown to shop for things like ceramics.
Fresh Picks
Alfred Portale
August 31, 2011

Historical Examples of ceramics

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

(functioning as singular) the art and techniques of producing articles of clay, porcelain, etc

Derived Formsceramist (ˈsɛrəmɪst) or ceramicist, noun

ceramic

noun

a hard brittle material made by firing clay and similar substances

an object made from such a material

adjective

of, relating to, or made from a ceramicthis vase is ceramic

of or relating to ceramicsceramic arts and crafts

Word Origin for ceramic

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.

ceramics in Science

ceramic

[sə-răm′ĭk]

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.