GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

last match results

Found 2 definitions

1.       
   China , n.
   A country in Eastern Asia.
   1913 Webster
   China ware, which is the modern popular term for porcelain. See Porcelain.
   1913 Webster
   China aster (Bot.), a well-known garden flower and plant. See Aster. -- China bean. See under Bean, 1. -- China clay See Kaolin. -- China grass, Same as Ramie. -- China ink. See India ink. -- China pink (Bot.), an anual or biennial species of Dianthus (Dianthus Chiensis) having variously colored single or double flowers; Indian pink. -- China root (Med.), the rootstock of a species of Smilax (Smilax China, from the East Indies; -- formerly much esteemed for the purposes that sarsaparilla is now used for. Also the galanga root (from Alpinia Gallanga and Alpinia officinarum). -- China rose. (Bot.) (a) A popular name for several free-blooming varieties of rose derived from the Rosa Indica, and perhaps other species. (b) A flowering hothouse plant (Hibiscus Rosa-Sinensis) of the Mallow family, common in the gardens of China and the east Indies. -- China shop, a shop or store for the sale of China ware or of crockery. -- Pride of China, China tree. (Bot.) See Azedarach.
   1913 Webster
   
         
       

2.       
   Porcelain , n. [F. porcelaine, It. porcellana, orig., the porcelain shell, or Venus shell (Cypræa 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.
   1913 Webster
   Porcelain, by being pure, is apt to break.
   Dryden.
   
   1913 Webster
   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 Porcellanidæ). 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.
   1913 Webster