porcelains

Noun

porcelain (countable and uncountable, plural porcelains)

1. (uncountable, usually) A hard white translucent ceramic, originally made by firing kaolin, quartz, and feldspar at high temperatures but now also inclusive of similar artificial materials; also often (figurative) such a material as a symbol of the fragility, elegance, etc. traditionally associated with porcelain goods.
   • Tableware and toilets are both made of porcelain.
2. (uncountable, usually) Synonym of china: porcelain tableware.
   • iij. potts of Erthe payntid, callyd Porseland.c. 1530, letter in Original Letters Illustrative of English History, Vol. II, p. 242

   Synonyms:

   china, chinaware

3. (obsolete, uncountable) Synonym of kaolin: the kind of clay traditionally used in China to manufacture porcelain.
   • [...] that earthen or pliable matter commonly called porcellan, which is pure white,... wherof vessels of all kinds are very curiously framed...1599, E. de Sande, translated by Richard Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques, and Discoveries of the English Nation, 2nd edition, volume II, page 91

   Synonyms:

   kaolin

4. (countable, plural-normally) An object made of porcelain, (particularly) art objects or items of tableware.
   • The museum has an extensive collection of rare Chinese porcelains.

   Synonyms:

   china

5. (countable, rare) Synonym of cowrie.
   • In the kingdomes of Caiacan and Carazan, certaine sea shels are currant, which some men terme Porcelline.1601, Giovanni Botero, translated by Robert Johnson, The Trauellers Breuiat, or, An Historicall Description of the Most Famous Kingdomes in the World, page 104

   Synonyms:

   cowrie

6. (countable, historical, obsolete) Synonym of wampum: strings of shells, beads, etc. used as ornamentation or currency; the composite shells, beads, etc.
   • We mett severall gangs of men to our greatest disadvantage, ffor we weare forced to sing, and those that came to see us gave porcelaine to those that most did us injury.c. 1665, Pierre Esprit de Radisson, Voyages, 1885 edition, page 49

   Synonyms:

   wampum

See all 9 meanings of porcelain