From Greek 'keramos' (potter's clay) — preserving the name of the ancient potters' quarter of Athens.
Definition
An inorganic, non-metallic solid made by shaping and firing clay or similar materials at high temperatures; as an adjective, relating to pottery or ceramics.
The Full Story
Greek19th centurywell-attested
From Greek 'keramikós' (κεραμικός, of or relating to pottery), from 'kéramos' (κέραμος, potter's clay, earthenware, a roof tile). The Kerameikós (Κεραμεικός) district of ancient Athens was the potters' quarter, named after its craftsmen; it gives us 'ceramic' and survives as a modern Athens neighborhood name. Greek 'kéramos' likely derives from PIE *ḱerh₂- (to burn, to make
Did you know?
The Kerameikós, the ancientpotters' quarter of Athens, was also one of the city's main cemeteries. The juxtaposition was not accidental: both potters and the dead worked with earth, and the ceramic vessels used as grave markers and funerary urns were made just meters from where they would serve their final purpose.
objects made from fired inorganic non-metallic materials. The word entered English in that century from French 'céramique.' The PIE root *ḱerh₂- is one of the proposed bases of Greek 'kerannynai' (to mix by heat). Key roots: kéramos (κέραμος) (Greek: "potter's clay, pottery, tile"), keramikós (κεραμικός) (Greek: "of or relating to pottery"), *ḱerh₂- (?) (Proto-Indo-European: "to burn, heat (uncertain)").