ceramics
Americannoun
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(used with a singular verb) the art or technology of making objects of clay and similar materials treated by firing.
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(used with a plural verb) articles of earthenware, porcelain, etc.
noun
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Etymology
Origin of ceramics
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Explanation
The branch of art known as ceramics is all about making pottery. A ceramics class might teach you to make a bowl from clay using a pottery wheel. In ceramics, artists pinch cups and figures from clay, and create bowls, plates, and pots by spinning and shaping the clay on a wheel. Most of these items — which can also be called ceramics — are glazed or painted, and baked in an extremely hot oven. The word ceramics comes from the Greek word keramos, "potter's clay," or "tiles."
Vocabulary lists containing ceramics
Visual Arts - Introductory
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Visual Arts - High School
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Visual Arts - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Ceramics and seals bearing his likeness attest to his rehabilitation, at least in his native land.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 6, 2026
Twelve artisans at Heath Ceramics, which still operates in the Bay Area, created 3,000 new tiles by hand.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 10, 2025
Ceramics certainly wasn’t going to be one of them, especially after just one class.
From Salon • May 25, 2025
On Wednesday, Stoke-on-Trent's MPs, the GMB trade union and the industry body Ceramics UK will meet Industry Minister Sarah Jones to call for urgent action to save the potteries.
From BBC • May 6, 2025
Ceramics class is even worse because Mr. Miller remembered how badly I wanted to get into Prism.
From "Starfish" by Akemi Dawn Bowman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
