porcelain
porcelain (pôrʹsə-lĭn, pōrʹ-, pôrsʹlĭn, pōrsʹ-) noun
1. A hard, white, translucent ceramic made by firing a pure clay and then glazing it with variously colored fusible materials; china.
2. An object made of this substance.
noun, attributive.
Often used to modify another noun: porcelain teacups; a doll with a porcelain face.
[French porcelaine, cowry shell, porcelain, from Old French, from Old Italian porcellana from feminine of porcellano, of a young sow (from the shell's resemblance to a pig's back), from porcella, young sow diminutive of porca, sow, from Latin feminine of porcus, pig.]
porcelaʹneous (-lāʹnē-əs) adjective