earthenware

Etymology

It is formed from English earthen + ware.^[2][3][4][5] The first element is formed from earth and -en, and meant made of earth from the early 13th century and made of clay from the late 14th.^[3][2] The second is from Old English waru (“article of merchandise”), from Proto-Germanic *waro, probably first an object of care or something kept in custody.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pots, dishes and other objects of low-fired clay: before 1624, in Bishop M. Smith's Sermons, printed in 1632,^[2] and Merriam-Webster Unabridged gives about 1624.^[6] Other dictionaries have later dates: 1640–50 in Dictionary.com, the mid 17th century in the Shorter Oxford and the 1670s in Etymonline.^[5][4][3]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its first meaning.^[2][6] In the 1670s it was also applied to the material itself (1670) and in the plural to kinds or items of such ware (1672).^[2] Its use before another noun, for something made of this material, is dated by the Shorter Oxford to the early 19th century.^[4] Merriam-Webster Unabridged sets it apart from china and porcelain: the clay is fired at a low temperature and stays slightly porous and opaque, and it is usually covered with a glaze.^[6][2]

Timeline

• before 1624 – pots and dishes of low-fired clay, as a mass noun.^[2][6]
• 1670 – the material of such objects.^[2]
• 1672 – plural, kinds or items of such ware.^[2]
• early 19th century – attributive or adjective, made of this material.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. Vessels and other objects made of clay fired at a low temperature, so that they stay somewhat porous and usually need a glaze: a shelf of old earthenware.^[7][6][2]
2. The fired clay itself, as a material.^[2][4]

Adjective

1. Made of such clay: an earthenware jug.^[7][4]

Related words

• earth
• earthen
• ware

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins