Sep 18, 2024
From an Under Consideration blog post about the now defunct Illustrated Etymology project. Date unknown, artist is potentially BLDGWLF whose name appears attached to the project, but this cannot be confirmed.
Pictured: porcelain - from Middle French porcelaine and directly from Italian porcellana “porcelain” (13c.), literally “cowrie shell,” the chinaware so called from resemblance of its lustrous transparency to the shiny surface of the shells. The shell’s name in Italian is from porcella “young sow,” fem. of Latin porcellus “young pig,” diminutive of porculus “piglet,” diminutive of porcus “pig.”
