Por"ce*lain (?), n. Bot.
Purslain.
[Obs.]
© Webster 1913.
Por"ce*lain [F. porcelaine, It. porcellana, orig., the porcelain shell, or Venus shell (Cypraea porcellana), from a dim. fr. L. porcus pig, probably from the resemblance of the shell in shape to a pig's back. Porcelain was called after this shell, either on account of its smoothness and whiteness, or because it was believed to be made from it. See Pork.]
A fine translucent or semitransculent kind of earthenware, made first in China and Japan, but now also in Europe and America; -- called also China, or China ware.
Porcelain, by being pure, is apt to break.
Dryden.
Ivory porcelain, porcelain with a surface like ivory, produced by depolishing. See Depolishing. -- Porcelain clay. See under Clay. -- Porcelain crab Zool., any crab of the genus Porcellana and allied genera (family Porcellanidae). They have a smooth, polished carapace. -- Porcelain jasper. Min. See Porcelanite. -- Porcelain printing, the transferring of an impression of an engraving to porcelain. -- Porcelain shell Zool., a cowry.
© Webster 1913.