Porcellain
/ˈpɔːr.sə.lɪn/noun
An old spelling of porcelain, a hard, white, translucent ceramic.
Did you know?The word ultimately comes from Latin *porcellana*, ‘cowrie shell,’ because early Europeans thought fine porcelain looked like the glossy shell of a cowrie, a prized object often linked to wealth, trade, and symbolic power.
Etymological Timeline
Latin (late antiquity)
Latin
porcellana
“cowrie shell”
Italian (14th–15th c.)
Italian
porcellana
“cowrie shell; later, porcelain”
French (16th c.)
French
porcelaine
“porcelain”
16th Century
English
porcellain
“porcelain; fine ceramic ware”
Modern English
English
porcelain
“hard, white, translucent ceramic”