celadon
Americannoun
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any of several Chinese porcelains having a translucent, pale green glaze.
-
any porcelain imitating these.
-
a pale gray-green.
adjective
noun
-
a type of porcelain having a greyish-green glaze: mainly Chinese
-
a pale greyish-green colour, sometimes somewhat yellow
Etymology
Origin of celadon
First recorded in 1760–70; named after Céladon, name of a character in L' Astrée, a tale by Honoré d'Urfé (1568–1625), French writer
Explanation
Celadon is a soft, grayish green color. It's also the name of a kind of pottery that has a celadon-colored glaze. The word celadon was coined to describe the pale jade glaze, which is often deliberately scattered with fine cracks. It comes from a character in a 17th-century French romantic novel, a shepherd and sentimental hero named Céladon who is described as wearing green clothing. Celadon pottery is still popular today, and so is the color; you can find clothing, wall paint, and nail polish in celadon.
Vocabulary lists containing celadon
Green
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Shipwrecked!
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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.
At Pearl Lam, the delicate craquelure of the monochrome panels by Su Xiaobai connects them to historic painting and celadon pottery.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 4, 2025
Behind him, a young servant arrives with a snack, while books and a celadon vase have been laid out for study on a nearby table.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 28, 2023
Inside, she painted the apartment’s walls and woodwork a celadon green, offsetting the black-and-white checkerboard marble floors.
From New York Times ● Mar. 18, 2021
The circular, celadon, shag-carpeted meditation dome is tricked out with crystals and a James Turrell-like light installation.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 5, 2020
It did not take long for the Cultural Properties Bureau to send down divers to probe the area where the celadon vases had been accidentally hauled in.
From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
