vitreous
- adjective
- /ˈvɪtriəs/
- Specialized
:
vitreo
- Many modern bathrooms feature sinks and toilets crafted from vitreous china, known for its durability and sleek finish.
- vitreous china
Examples
-
Its shape is that of tyranny. However, against the impending threat of Le Corbusier's "reign of harmony," Cage did not immediately counterpoise the example of his own music, instead making reference to the alternative of a vitreous architecture.
Academic text (1997) -
A maker of vitreous china lavatories from England could chat with an Austrian duke.
Fiction book (1993) -
The quenched slag forms an inert, vitreous granular material with only about one-third the volume of fly ash.
Academic text (1999) -
Reflecting the chaos of metropolitan existence across their surfaces, the vitreous facades of Mies's buildings overtly register the disorder and anxieties of modern urban society.
Academic text (1997) -
The vase was made of vitreous glass, giving it a beautiful, shiny appearance.
-
The artist used vitreous enamel to create a stunning, glossy effect on her ceramic tiles.
Synonyms
9
3.9
A surface that is smooth and shiny like glass
1
3.8
It looks and feels like smooth clear glass
1
4.1
Having a hard, smooth, clear surface like glass
1
8.5
Having a smooth, shiny, and slightly see-through surface like glass
1
9.9
Of the clear jelly inside the eye that looks like glass
Having a shiny surface because heat fuses a glass layer to a material like tiles or pottery
Compounds
- Specialized
1
7.3
A clear jelly that fills the space between the lens and the back of the eye
- Specialized
1
8.6
A clear jelly that fills the space between the lens and the back of the eye
How Glassy
Surface Forms
Morphology
vitreous = vitre + ous
Although built from the combining form 'vitre-' (glass) + the productive adjective suffix '-ous', the root 'vitre' is not a standalone English word, so learners cannot reliably derive 'relating to glass' from knowledge of common English bases.
Etymology
Vitreous comes from the Latin vitreus, from vitrum meaning 'glass'. So the word describes something 'glass-like' or shiny, like some rocks, ceramics, or a polished surface.