noun
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articles, vessels, etc, made from earthenware and dried and baked in a kiln
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a place where such articles are made
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the craft or business of making such articles
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of pottery
Compare meaning
How does pottery compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Something made out of clay and baked in a kiln is a piece of pottery—and the craft of creating it is also pottery. You might make pottery in the arts and crafts tent at camp. Anything made from clay that's been fired, or baked at a high temperature in a kiln, is pottery. Some pottery is made on a wheel that turns while the potter forms the shape of a bowl or vase. Other pottery is formed with hands or tools that shape the clay. In the 15th century, a pottery was a potter's shed or studio.
Vocabulary lists containing pottery
The Stone Age - Middle School and High School
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The Stone Age - Introductory
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Sports and Hobbies
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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.
See Examples For:
Because pottery styles have changed over time, differerent styles are linked to particular periods.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
The stones from the drain along with fragments of pottery will be examined further by specialists.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
The discovery of pottery decorated in Mississippian styles only deepened the mystery.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026
The Tampa Bay pottery suggested that the region's relationship with that culture may have been more complicated.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026
Not surprisingly, ancient Japanese pottery was technologically simple by today’s standards.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Three Staffordshire potteries have closed this year, and Dunoon's director Alan Smith said it was "entirely possible" that Dunoon could be next.
From BBC ● May 6, 2025
Stoneware potteries, coal mines, and steel mills mostly died off to be replaced by refineries, hazardous waste incinerators, unconventional gas wells, and petrochemical facilities.
From Salon ● Mar. 3, 2023
Sometime after the Emancipation Proclamation, he relocated to Texas, where he worked in potteries formed by other freedmen from Edgefield.
From New York Times ● Sep. 22, 2022
A range of jubilee teacups, mugs, plates and pillboxes is being produced in Stoke-on-Trent, England, where potteries have been making royal commemorative ware for generations.
From Washington Post ● May 31, 2022
Say they were not moulded at the celestial potteries, we paint them fair behind the plain exterior they wear to indifferent eyes, and as they appear in our gallery of enamels.
From Tablets by Amos Bronson Alcott
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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.
