Etymology

• From Old French (1298 AD) pourcelaine, a cowrie, cockle, or similar univalve seashell, or the polished material of these shells. By metaphorical extension, also fine china, which had a similar appearance. From (13th century, in Marco Polo) porcellana "cowrie", "china", also "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".

Noun

1. cowrie, a mollusk of the family Cypraeidae, or its translucent shell
2. porcelain, the translucent ceramic of fine china, or vessels made of this material