porcelaine
See also: porcélaine
French
editEtymology
editFrom 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
editNoun
editporcelaine 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
editDescendants
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.