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Synonyms for porcelain

Grammar : Noun
Spell : pawr-suh-lin, pohr-; pawrs-lin, pohrs-
Phonetic Transcription : ˈpɔr sə lɪn, ˈpoʊr-; ˈpɔrs lɪn, ˈpoʊrs-


Définition of porcelain

Origin :
  • 1530s, from Middle French porcelaine and directly from Italian porcellana "porcelain" (13c.), literally "cowrie shell," the chinaware so called from resemblance of its lustrous transparency to the shiny surface of the shells. The shell's name in Italian is from porcella "young sow," fem. of Latin porcellus "young pig," diminutive of porculus "piglet," diminutive of porcus "pig" (see pork (n.)). According to an old theory, the connection of the shell and the pig is a perceived resemblance of the shell opening to the exposed outer genitalia of pigs.
  • porcelain is china & china is p.; there is no recondite difference between the two things, which indeed are not two, but one; & the difference between the two words is merely that china is the homely term, while porcelain is exotic & literary. [Fowler]
  • noun earthenware
  • noun ceramic
Example sentences :
  • If the one be porcelain, and the other earthen ware, both are brittle!
  • Extract from : « Female Scripture Biographies, Vol. II » by Francis Augustus Cox
  • I haven't a single child that has not won the porcelain cross for obedience.
  • Extract from : « City of Endless Night » by Milo Hastings
  • Why should not the manufacture of porcelain equally enrich the Elector?
  • Extract from : « Self-Help » by Samuel Smiles
  • Barter returned to the porcelain slab banked with the lights and the keys.
  • Extract from : « The Mind Master » by Arthur J. Burks
  • They are all covered with cloth and rubber and are fastened with glass or porcelain knobs.
  • Extract from : « Common Science » by Carleton W. Washburne
  • The wash-basin in the bath-room is either marble, enameled iron, or porcelain.
  • Extract from : « Rural Hygiene » by Henry N. Ogden
  • The mercury is then to be washed and dried by heating to, say, 110° C. in a porcelain dish.
  • Extract from : « On Laboratory Arts » by Richard Threlfall
  • The porcelain of the Ming dynasty is famous all over the world.
  • Extract from : « The Civilization Of China » by Herbert A. Giles
  • From here comes the clay of which the exquisite Copenhagen porcelain is made.
  • Extract from : « Denmark » by M. Pearson Thomson
  • It is the State that makes the Sevres porcelain, and the Gobelin tapestry.
  • Extract from : « Sophisms of the Protectionists » by Frederic Bastiat

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Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019