[Fr., from Ital. porcellana, the porcelain or Venus shell: L. parcus, a pig.] A fine kind of earthenware, first made in China and Japan ; so called from its likeness in color to the Venus shell, which was thought to resemble in shape the back of a young pig. It is now made in Europe and America. It is also called china or chinaware. Some of the French and English porcelain, especially that made at Sevres and Worcester, is extremely white and translucent, but is more apt to crack by sudden changes of temperature, and is more brittle, than the finest porcelains of China and Japan. (See Pottery.)