Standard Lemma guide

majolica

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /məˈd͡ʒɒlɪkə/
  • /maɪˈɒlɪkə/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: M AH0 JH AO1 L AH0 K AH0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Earthenware decorated with coloured lead silicate glazes applied directly to an unglazed body, a process invented in Victorian England.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Palissy ware

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Earthenware coated with opaque white tin-glaze, decorated with coloured metal oxide enamel, first created in Renaissance Europe.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Qualifier: originally

Examples

  • 2013, S. De la Vega, A. Castaneda-Gomez del Campo, M. Jimenez-Reyes, A. Tellez-Nieto, D. Tenorio, Majolica ware in the New Spain: an evaluation through NAA. The results of a study about [Tin-glaze] Majolica ceramics recovered from three sites located in Mexico City, Akademiai Kiado ́, Budapest, Hungary The [tin-glaze] Majolica manufacture process has remained practically unchanged through time: shaping is done with a potter’s wheel; drying must be slow [...] two firings [...] the first one for biscuit-sintering and the second for the glaze used as a surface for decoration.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

highly decorated earthenware with a glaze of tin oxide

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: maiolica

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: earthenware

History

Etymology

From Italian maiolica, named after the Island of Mallorca (formerly known as Maiòlica), which was once a commerce center for work produced in Valencia, Spain. Doublet of Mallorca and Majorca.

Across languages

Translations

2 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • German: Majolika — Translations
  • Italian: maiolica — Translations