porcelaine
See also: porcélaine
French edit
Etymology edit
From Old French (1298 AD) pourcelaine (“cowrie, cockle, or similar univalve seashell; the polished material of these shells”). By metaphorical extension, also fine china, which had a similar appearance. From Italian (13th century, in Marco Polo) porcellana (“cowrie; china; vagina”). From porcella (“the mussel and cockle shells which painters put their pigments in”, literally “female piglet”), the diminutive of porca (“sow”), from porco (“pig”), from Latin porcus (“pig”).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
porcelaine f (plural porcelaines)
- cowrie, a mollusk of the family Cypraeidae, or its translucent shell
- porcelain, the translucent ceramic of fine china, or vessels made of this material
Derived terms edit
Descendants edit
- → Danish: porcelæn
- → English: porcelain
- → Ottoman Turkish: پورسلان (porselen)
- Turkish: porselen
- → Swedish: porslin
References edit
- "porcelaine", Le petit Robert 1, 1990 edition.
- "porcelain", Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition.
Further reading edit
- “porcelaine”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.