faience

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See also: faïence

English[edit]

An example of faience

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From French faïence, named after the city of Faenza, Italy, where it was made in the 16th century.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈfaɪ.əns/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -aɪəns

Noun[edit]

faience (countable and uncountable, plural faiences)

  1. A type of tin-glazed earthenware ceramic, used domestically for tableware and in architecture as a decorative material.
    • 1885–1886, Henry James, The Bostonians [], London; New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., published 16 February 1886, →OCLC:
      If she had wondered what Mrs. Burrage wished so particularly to talk about, she waited some time for the clearing-up of the mystery. During this interval she sat in a remarkably pretty boudoir, where there were flowers and faiences and little French pictures, and watched her hostess revolve round the subject in circles the vagueness of which she tried to dissimulate.
    • 1907, Edwin Atlee Barber, Tin Enamelled Pottery Maiolica, Delft and other Stanniferous Faience, Doubleday, Page & Company New York, page #:6
      The word Majolica, or Maiolica [] was applied to all Stanniferous faience of Italy and Spain.
    • 2023 December 13, Robin Leleux, “Restored... and a richly deserved award: Findlater's Corner”, in RAIL, number 998, page 43:
      The white faience façade, the glazed Doultonware Carrera marble, was made locally. And being glazed, it was impervious to London's sooty atmosphere, enabling easier cleaning.
  2. (archaeology) Beads or small ornaments made from frit, from the eastern Mediterranean of the Bronze and Iron Ages.

Translations[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  • Krueger, Dennis (December 1982). "Why On Earth Do They Call It Throwing?" Studio Potter Vol. 11, Number 1.[1] (etymology)
  • “faience” in the Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, 1974 edition.

Further reading[edit]

Anagrams[edit]