ceramics
Americannoun
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ceramics
plural
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(used with a singular verb) the art or technology of making objects of clay and similar materials treated by firing.
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(used with a plural verb) articles of earthenware, porcelain, etc.
noun
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Etymology
Origin of ceramics
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Explanation
The branch of art known as ceramics is all about making pottery. A ceramics class might teach you to make a bowl from clay using a pottery wheel. In ceramics, artists pinch cups and figures from clay, and create bowls, plates, and pots by spinning and shaping the clay on a wheel. Most of these items — which can also be called ceramics — are glazed or painted, and baked in an extremely hot oven. The word ceramics comes from the Greek word keramos, "potter's clay," or "tiles."
Vocabulary lists containing ceramics
Visual Arts - Introductory
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Visual Arts - High School
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Visual Arts - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The robots’ pincer-like hands make it challenging to grasp slippery and heavy ceramics.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
Downstairs is a small, cinderblock-enclosed ceramics studio where Herman builds his oversize vessels, starting on a wheel and then hand-building the rest of the vases before firing them in his own kiln.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
Many silicon-derived materials used in concrete, glass, ceramics, semiconductors, and silicones require high temperatures, large amounts of energy, and intensive chemical processing to produce.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026
The Templo Mayor Museum, which displays artifacts found at the site, reveals their genius for engineering, herbal medicine and astronomy, as well as their artistic skills, including stone sculptures, exquisite ceramics and delicate jewelry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
Hampden graduates never seemed to do anything after they got out of school but start little ceramics shops in Nantucket or join ashrams in Nepal.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
