porcelain English · revision 1651

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈpɔːsəlɪn/ ''(UK)''; /ˈpɔɹs(ə)lɪn/, /ˈpɔɹs(ə)lən/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|porcelaine|t=cowrie shell; porcelain]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|it|porcellana|t=cowrie shell]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from ''porcella'' “young sow”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) from Latin ''porcellus'', a diminutive of ''porcus'' “pig”.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) The ware was named for its resemblance to the lustrous surface of the cowrie shell.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Fine translucent earthenware; china (about 1530, as ''Porseland'').^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Several sources explain the shell's name by a supposed resemblance of its opening to the genitals of a sow;^(Barnhart 1995)^(RHWU)^(MW Collegiate) the AHD and the Century Dictionary, quoted by Etymonline, refer instead to the curve of a pig's back.^(AHD)^(Etymonline) The word has been used as an adjective since the 1590s,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and figuratively for anything fine, delicate or fragile since 1638–40.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * about 1530 – ''Porseland'', chinaware.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1598 – adjective, made of porcelain.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1601 – the cowrie shell.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1604 – an article of porcelain.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1638 – figurative, fine, fragile.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A hard, white, translucent [[ceramic]] made by firing fine clay such as [[kaolin]] at high temperature; [[china]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # An object made of this material.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[porcelaneous]]

+ * [[porcelainlike]]

+ * [[porcelainize]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pork]]

+ * [[porcine]]

+ * [[cowrie]]

+ * [[china]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Etymonline quotes Fowler: ''porcelain'' and ''china'' mean the same thing, ''china'' being the homely term and ''porcelain'' the exotic and literary one.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}