Inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ceramic</span>

Ceramic

<p>A <b>ceramic</b> is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and <a href="/en/Corrosion-resistant" title="Corrosion-resistant" class="mw-redirect wl">corrosion-resistant</a> materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as <a href="/en/Clay" title="Clay" class="wl">clay</a>, at a high temperature.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-1"><a href="#cite_note-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[1]</span></a></span><span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-2"><a href="#cite_note-2" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 2;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[2]</span></a></span> Common examples are <a href="/en/Earthenware" title="Earthenware" class="wl">earthenware</a>, <a href="/en/Porcelain" title="Porcelain" class="wl">porcelain</a>, and <a href="/en/Brick" title="Brick" class="wl">brick</a>.</p>

<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">Inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat</div>
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src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/Getty_Villa_-_Mixing_Vessel_with_a_deceased_youth_-_inv.96.AE.117.jpg/87px-Getty_Villa_-_Mixing_Vessel_with_a_deceased_youth_-_inv.96.AE.117.jpg" decoding="async" data-file-width="2120" data-file-height="3105" data-file-type="bitmap" height="127" width="87" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/Getty_Villa_-_Mixing_Vessel_with_a_deceased_youth_-_inv.96.AE.117.jpg/131px-Getty_Villa_-_Mixing_Vessel_with_a_deceased_youth_-_inv.96.AE.117.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/Getty_Villa_-_Mixing_Vessel_with_a_deceased_youth_-_inv.96.AE.117.jpg/174px-Getty_Villa_-_Mixing_Vessel_with_a_deceased_youth_-_inv.96.AE.117.jpg 2x"></a></span></div></div></div><div class="trow"><div class="tsingle" style="width:74px;max-width:74px"><div class="thumbimage" style="height:96px;overflow:hidden"><span><a href="/en/File:Codex-Style_Vase_with_Mythological_Scene_MET_DP-579-002.jpg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:Codex-Style_Vase_with_Mythological_Scene_MET_DP-579-002.jpg"><img loading="lazy" alt="Codex-Style_Vase_with_Mythological_Scene_MET_DP-579-002.jpg" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8b/Codex-Style_Vase_with_Mythological_Scene_MET_DP-579-002.jpg/72px-Codex-Style_Vase_with_Mythological_Scene_MET_DP-579-002.jpg" decoding="async" data-file-width="2981" data-file-height="4000" data-file-type="bitmap" height="97" width="72" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8b/Codex-Style_Vase_with_Mythological_Scene_MET_DP-579-002.jpg/108px-Codex-Style_Vase_with_Mythological_Scene_MET_DP-579-002.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8b/Codex-Style_Vase_with_Mythological_Scene_MET_DP-579-002.jpg/144px-Codex-Style_Vase_with_Mythological_Scene_MET_DP-579-002.jpg 2x"></a></span></div></div><div class="tsingle" style="width:66px;max-width:66px"><div class="thumbimage" 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alt="lossy-page1-126px-S%C3%A8vres_Porcelain_Manufactory_-_Covered_Tureen_%28Terrine_du_roi%29_-_1949.15_-_Cleveland_Museum_of_Art.tif.jpg" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/S%C3%A8vres_Porcelain_Manufactory_-_Covered_Tureen_%28Terrine_du_roi%29_-_1949.15_-_Cleveland_Museum_of_Art.tif/lossy-page1-126px-S%C3%A8vres_Porcelain_Manufactory_-_Covered_Tureen_%28Terrine_du_roi%29_-_1949.15_-_Cleveland_Museum_of_Art.tif.jpg" decoding="async" data-file-width="6000" data-file-height="4556" data-file-type="bitmap" height="96" width="126" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/S%C3%A8vres_Porcelain_Manufactory_-_Covered_Tureen_%28Terrine_du_roi%29_-_1949.15_-_Cleveland_Museum_of_Art.tif/lossy-page1-189px-S%C3%A8vres_Porcelain_Manufactory_-_Covered_Tureen_%28Terrine_du_roi%29_-_1949.15_-_Cleveland_Museum_of_Art.tif.jpg 1.5x, 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src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Vase_with_cover_%28vase_des_%C3%A2ges%29_%28one_of_a_pair%29_MET_DP-13079-025.jpg/70px-Vase_with_cover_%28vase_des_%C3%A2ges%29_%28one_of_a_pair%29_MET_DP-13079-025.jpg" decoding="async" data-file-width="2911" data-file-height="4000" data-file-type="bitmap" height="96" width="70" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Vase_with_cover_%28vase_des_%C3%A2ges%29_%28one_of_a_pair%29_MET_DP-13079-025.jpg/105px-Vase_with_cover_%28vase_des_%C3%A2ges%29_%28one_of_a_pair%29_MET_DP-13079-025.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Vase_with_cover_%28vase_des_%C3%A2ges%29_%28one_of_a_pair%29_MET_DP-13079-025.jpg/140px-Vase_with_cover_%28vase_des_%C3%A2ges%29_%28one_of_a_pair%29_MET_DP-13079-025.jpg 2x"></a></span></div></div></div><div class="trow" style="display:flex"><div class="thumbcaption">Short timeline of ceramic in different styles</div></div></div></div>

<p>The earliest ceramics made by humans were <a href="/en/Pottery" title="Pottery" class="wl">pottery</a> objects (pots, vessels, or vases) or <a href="/en/Figurine" title="Figurine" class="wl">figurines</a> made from <a href="/en/Clay" title="Clay" class="wl">clay</a>, either by itself or mixed with other materials like <a href="/en/Silicon_dioxide" title="Silicon dioxide" class="wl">silica</a>, hardened and <a href="/en/Sintering" title="Sintering" class="wl">sintered</a> in fire. Later, ceramics were <a href="/en/Glazing_(ceramics)" title="Glazing (ceramics)" class="mw-redirect wl">glazed</a> and fired to create smooth, colored surfaces, decreasing <a href="/en/Porosity" title="Porosity" class="wl">porosity</a> through the use of glassy, amorphous ceramic coatings on top of the crystalline ceramic substrates.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-3"><a href="#cite_note-3" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 3;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[3]</span></a></span> Ceramics now include domestic, industrial, and building products, as well as a wide range of materials developed for use in advanced ceramic engineering, such as in <a href="/en/Semiconductor" title="Semiconductor" class="wl">semiconductors</a>.</p>

<p>The word <i><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ceramic" title="wikt:ceramic" class="extiw" target="_blank">ceramic</a></i> comes from the <a href="/en/Ancient_Greek" title="Ancient Greek" class="wl">Ancient Greek</a> word <span><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/κεραμικός#Ancient_Greek" title="wikt:κεραμικός" class="extiw" target="_blank">κεραμικός</a></span> (<span><i>keramikós</i></span>), meaning "of or for pottery"<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-4"><a href="#cite_note-4" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 4;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[4]</span></a></span> (<span>from</span><span> </span><i> </i><span><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/κέραμος#Ancient_Greek" title="wikt:κέραμος" class="extiw" target="_blank">κέραμος</a></span><i> (<span><i>kéramos</i></span>)</i><span>&nbsp;</span><span>'potter's clay, tile, pottery'</span>).<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-5"><a href="#cite_note-5" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 5;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[5]</span></a></span> The earliest known mention of the root <i>ceram-</i> is the <a href="/en/Mycenaean_Greek" title="Mycenaean Greek" class="wl">Mycenaean Greek</a> <span class="nowrap"><span><i lang="gmy-Latn">ke-ra-me-we</i></span></span>, workers of ceramic written in <a href="/en/Linear_B" title="Linear B" class="wl">Linear B</a> syllabic script.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-6"><a href="#cite_note-6" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 6;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[6]</span></a></span> The word <i>ceramic</i> can be used as an adjective to describe a material, product or process, or it may be used as a noun, either singular, or more commonly, as the <a href="/en/Plurale_tantum" title="Plurale tantum" class="wl">plural</a> noun <i>ceramics</i>.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-7"><a href="#cite_note-7" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 7;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[7]</span></a></span></p>



A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain, and brick. The earliest ceramics made by humans were pottery objects or figurines made from clay, either by itself or mixed with other materials like silica, hardened and sintered in fire. Later, ceramics were glazed and fired to create smooth, colored surfaces, decreasing porosity through the use of glassy, amorphous ceramic coatings on top of the crystalline ceramic substrates. Ceramics now include domestic, industrial, and building products, as well as a wide range of materials developed for use in advanced ceramic engineering, such as in semiconductors. The word ceramic comes from the Ancient Greek word κεραμικός , meaning "of or for pottery" 