noun · verb · 10 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.
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈpɔːsəlɪn/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:/ˈpɔɹs(ə)lɪn/
General-American:/ˈpɔɹs(ə)lən/
New-Zealand:/ˈpoːs(ɘ)lɘn/
CMU ARPABET:P AO1 R S AH0 L AH0 N
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A hard white translucent ceramic, originally made by firing kaolin, quartz, and feldspar at high temperatures but now also inclusive of similar artificial materials; also often (figurative) such a material as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.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
Examples
Tableware and toilets are both made of porcelain.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
Synonym of china: porcelain tableware.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
Examples
He set the table with our porcelain and stemware.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: china
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
Synonym of kaolin: the kind of clay traditionally used in China to manufacture porcelain.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: kaolin
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
An object made of porcelain, (particularly) art objects or items of tableware.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, plural-normally
Examples
The museum has an extensive collection of rare Chinese porcelains.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
Synonym of cowrie.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, rare
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: cowrie
Antonyms: none provided
6
noun
Meaning 6
Synonym of wampum: strings of shells, beads, etc. used as ornamentation or currency; the composite shells, beads, etc.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, historical, obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: wampum
Antonyms: none provided
7
noun
Meaning 7
A kind of pigeon with deep brown and off-white feathers.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: capitalized, countable, often
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
8
noun
Meaning 8
The set of Git commands, such as {{#tag:syntaxhighlight|git commit|inline="True"|lang="text"|style="white-space:pre-wrap;"}} or {{#tag:syntaxhighlight|git checkout|inline="True"|lang="text"|style="white-space:pre-wrap;"}}, which control the high-level state of the repository, each typically combining the behaviour of multiple plumbing commands.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
10
noun
Meaning 10
ceramic ware made of a more or less translucent ceramic
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: ceramic ware
Narrower terms: china, Spode
History
Etymology
From Middle French porcelaine (“cowrie, wampum; china, chinaware”), from Old Italian porcellana (“cowrie; china, chinaware”), from porcella (“female piglet”) + -ana. The material was so called because of its resemblance to the shell of the cowrie. Why the cowrie was named with a word meaning “piglet” is unclear.
Across languages
Translations
151 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Afrikaans:
porselein
— hard white translucent ceramic
Albanian:
porcelan
— hard white translucent ceramic
Arabic:
خَزَف
(ḵazaf)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Armenian:
ճենապակի
(čenapaki)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Asturian:
porzolana
— hard white translucent ceramic
Azerbaijani:
farfor
— hard white translucent ceramic
Azerbaijani:
çini
— hard white translucent ceramic
Basque:
portzelana
— hard white translucent ceramic
Belarusian:
фарфо́р
(farfór)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Belarusian:
парцала́н
(parcalán)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Belarusian:
парцаля́на
(parcaljána)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Bengali:
চীনামাটি
(cinamaṭi)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Bengali:
কেত্তলিন
(kettolin)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Bulgarian:
порцела́н
(porcelán)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Burmese:
ကြွေထည်ပစ္စည်း
(krwehtanypaccany:)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Catalan:
porcellana
— hard white translucent ceramic
Chinese Cantonese:
瓷器
(ci4 hei3)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Chinese:
幼瓷仔
(iù-hûi-á)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Chinese:
磁器
(chû-khì)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Chinese Mandarin:
瓷器
(cíqì)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Chinese Mandarin:
瓷
(cí)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Czech:
porcelán
— hard white translucent ceramic
Danish:
porcelæn
— hard white translucent ceramic
Dutch:
porselein
— hard white translucent ceramic
Esperanto:
porcelano
— hard white translucent ceramic
Estonian:
portselan
— hard white translucent ceramic
Faroese:
postalín
— hard white translucent ceramic
Finnish:
posliini
— hard white translucent ceramic
French:
porcelaine
— hard white translucent ceramic
Galician:
porcelana
— hard white translucent ceramic
Galician:
louza
— hard white translucent ceramic
Georgian:
ფაიფური
(paipuri)
— hard white translucent ceramic
German:
Porzellan
— hard white translucent ceramic
Greek:
πορσελάνη
(porseláni)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Hebrew:
חַרְסִינָה
(kharsina)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Hindi:
पॉर्सिलेन
(pŏrsilen)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Hindi:
चीनी का बरतन
(cīnī kā bartan)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Hindi:
चीनी
(cīnī)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Hungarian:
porcelán
— hard white translucent ceramic
Icelandic:
postulín
— hard white translucent ceramic
Ido:
porcelano
— hard white translucent ceramic
Indonesian:
porselen
— hard white translucent ceramic
Ingrian:
farfori
— hard white translucent ceramic
Irish:
poirceallán
— hard white translucent ceramic
Italian:
porcellana
— hard white translucent ceramic
Japanese:
磁器
(jiki)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Japanese:
焼き物
(yakimono)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Japanese:
ポースレン
(pōsuren)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Japanese:
陶磁
(tōji)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Kalmyk:
шаазң
(şaazñ)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Kannada:
ಪಿಂಗಾಣಿ
(piṅgāṇi)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Kazakh:
фарфор
(farfor)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Kazakh:
кәрлен
(kärlen)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Korean:
도자기
(dojagi)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Kyrgyz:
фарфор
(farfor)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Latin:
porcellanus
— hard white translucent ceramic
Latvian:
porcelāns
— hard white translucent ceramic
Lithuanian:
porcelianas
— hard white translucent ceramic
Luxembourgish:
Parzeläin
— hard white translucent ceramic
Macedonian:
порцела́н
(porcelán)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Malay:
porselin
— hard white translucent ceramic
Manchu:
ᠶᡝᡥᡝᡵᡝ
(yehere)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Mongolian:
шаазан
(šaazan)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Neapolitan:
purcellamma
— hard white translucent ceramic
Norman:
porcélaine
— hard white translucent ceramic
Norwegian Bokmål:
porselen
— hard white translucent ceramic
Norwegian Nynorsk:
porselen
— hard white translucent ceramic
Occitan:
porcelana
— hard white translucent ceramic
Iranian Persian:
چینی
(čini)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Iranian Persian:
صینی
(sini)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Iranian Persian:
پورْسِلین
(purselin)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Iranian Persian:
سُفالینِه
(sofâline)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Iranian Persian:
سِفالینِه
(sefâline)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Iranian Persian:
بارْفَتَن
(bârfatan)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Iranian Persian:
فَغْفور
(faġfur)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Polish:
porcelana
— hard white translucent ceramic
Portuguese:
porcelana
— hard white translucent ceramic
Romanian:
porțelan
— hard white translucent ceramic
Russian:
фарфо́р
(farfór)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Scots:
cheenae
— hard white translucent ceramic
Serbo-Croatian:
порцелан
— hard white translucent ceramic
Serbo-Croatian:
порцу̀ла̄н
— hard white translucent ceramic
Serbo-Croatian:
porcelan
— hard white translucent ceramic
Serbo-Croatian:
porcùlān
— hard white translucent ceramic
Sinhalese:
පෝසිලේන්
(pōsilēn)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Slovak:
porcelán
— hard white translucent ceramic
Slovene:
porcelan
— hard white translucent ceramic
Spanish:
porcelana
— hard white translucent ceramic
Spanish:
loza
— hard white translucent ceramic
Swedish:
porslin
— hard white translucent ceramic
Tagalog:
pamantingin
— hard white translucent ceramic
Tajik:
фарфор
(farfor)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Tajik:
фағфур
(faġfur)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Thai:
เครื่องลายคราม
(krʉ̂ʉang-laai-kraam)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Turkish:
porselen
— hard white translucent ceramic
Ottoman Turkish:
چینی
(çini)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Turkmen:
farfor
— hard white translucent ceramic
Turkmen:
jäç
— hard white translucent ceramic
Tuvan:
шаажаң
(şaajañ)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Ukrainian:
фарфо́р
(farfór)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Ukrainian:
порцеля́на
(porceljána)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Urdu:
چِینِی
(cīnī)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Urdu:
چِینِی کا بَرْتَن
(cīnī kā bartan)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Urdu:
چِینِی مِٹِّی
(cīnī miṭṭī)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Uzbek:
farfor
— hard white translucent ceramic
Uzbek:
chinni
— hard white translucent ceramic
Vietnamese:
sứ
— hard white translucent ceramic
Vietnamese:
đồ sứ
— hard white translucent ceramic
Welsh:
porslen
— hard white translucent ceramic
Yakut:
фарфор
(farfor)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Yiddish:
פּאָרצעלײַ
(portselay)
— hard white translucent ceramic
Afrikaans:
porselein
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Chinese Mandarin:
瓷器
(cíqì)
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Czech:
porcelán
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Danish:
porcelæn
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Danish:
porcelænsvare
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Dutch:
porselein
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Esperanto:
porcelano
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Finnish:
posliini
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
French:
porcelaine
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Galician:
porcelana
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
German:
Porzellan
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Greek:
πορσελάνη
(porseláni)
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Greek:
πορσελάνες
(porselánes)
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Hebrew:
חַרְסִינָה
(kharsína)
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Hungarian:
porcelán
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Icelandic:
postulín
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Indonesian:
tembikar
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Indonesian:
porselen
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Japanese:
陶磁器
(tōjiki)
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Kazakh:
кәрлен
(kärlen)
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Korean:
도자기
(dojagi)
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Luxembourgish:
Parzeläin
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Malay:
tembikar
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Malay:
porselin
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Norwegian Bokmål:
porselen
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Norwegian Nynorsk:
porselen
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Persian:
پورسلین
(porselin)
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Polish:
porcelana
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Portuguese:
porcelana
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Romanian:
porțelan
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Russian:
фарфо́р
(farfór)
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Serbo-Croatian:
порцелан
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Serbo-Croatian:
porcelan
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Slovak:
porcelán
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Slovene:
porcelan
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Spanish:
porcelana
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Swedish:
porslin
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Turkish:
porselen
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Vietnamese:
đồ sứ
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
Welsh:
porslen
— items (esp. dishware or objets d'art) made of porcelain
