Jump To:

• delft
  delft

  noun

  earthenware having an opaque white glaze with an overglaze decoration, usually in blue.
• Delft
  Delft

  noun

  a city in W Netherlands.

delft

¹ American  

[delft] / dɛlft /

Also delf

noun

1. earthenware having an opaque white glaze with an overglaze decoration, usually in blue.

2. any pottery resembling this.

---

Delft ² American  

[delft] / dɛlft /

noun

1. a city in W Netherlands.

---

Delft British  

/ dɛlft /

noun

1. a town in the SW Netherlands, in South Holland province. Pop: 97 000 (2003 est)

2. Also called: delftware. tin-glazed earthenware made in Delft since the 17th century, typically having blue decoration on a white ground

3. a similar earthenware made in England

---

Etymology

Origin of delft

First recorded in 1705–15; after Delft

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

delft Delft

The gently moving backdrops, painted deep delft blue, looked like they had sprung from a sumptuous picture book.

From New York Times ● Jul. 13, 2018

Key pieces: Call us old-fashioned, but our favorite piece was a more traditional delft blue twill suit.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2014

Royal weddings were routinely marked with goblets or delft plates, but it was not until the coronation of King George II in 1727 that manufacturers were allowed to reproduce the monarch's likeness.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 20, 2011

In the center was a large blue mug of very common delft filled with poor Penelope’s grasses.

From Girls of the Forest by L. T. Meade

And his mother had gone off shopping to buy linen for the house at Cushendhu, poplin for dresses, delft from Holland for the kitchen and glass from Waterford for the sideboard in the dining-room.

From The Wind Bloweth by Brian Oswald Donn-Byrne

"The Port of Rotterdam is a key player in this sustainable transition but their sphere of influence is limited," says Bettina Kampman, from environmental consultancy CE Delft, which works for governments, companies and NGOs.

From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026

Vermeer emerged from the doctrinal matrices of 17th-century Delft.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026

Lillian Disney, a connoisseur of flowers, would die before the hall was finished, but its hidden rear garden is centered around the “Rose for Lilly” fountain, composed of thousands of broken blue-and-white Delft china pieces.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 5, 2025

In addition to the Arts and Crafts movement, tile artists began producing a wide variety of works inspired by traditional Mexican and Indigenous designs, as well as European styles like Delft.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 18, 2025

At one point we made out a tower that Betsie was sure was the cathedral at Delft.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---