A ceramic is an inorganic, non-metallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous (e.g., a glass). Because most common ceramics are crystalline, the definition of ceramic is often restricted to inorganic crystalline materials, as opposed to the non-crystalline glasses.

The earliest ceramics were pottery objects made from clay, either by itself or mixed with other materials. Ceramics now include domestic, industrial and building products and art objects. In the 20th century, new ceramic materials were developed for use in advanced ceramic engineering; for example, in semiconductors.

The word ceramic comes from the Greek word κεραμικός (keramikos) meaning pottery, which is said to derive from the Indo-European word ker, meaning heat. Ceramic may be used as an adjective describing a material, product or process; or as a singular noun, or, more commonly, as a plural noun, ceramics.

Types of ceramic products

For convenience, ceramic products are usually divided into four sectors; these are shown below with some examples:

* Structural, including bricks, pipes, floor and roof tiles
* Refractories, such as kiln linings, gas fire radiants, steel and glass making crucibles
* Whitewares, including tableware, wall tiles, pottery products, and sanitary ware
* Technical, is also known as Engineering, Advanced, Special, and in Japan, Fine Ceramics.

Such items include tiles used in the Space Shuttle program, gas burner nozzles, ballistic protection, nuclear fuel uranium oxide pellets, bio-medical implants, jet engine turbine blades, and missile nose cones. Frequently the raw materials do not include clays.

Examples of whiteware ceramics

* Earthenware, which is often made from clay, quartz and feldspar.
* Stoneware
* Porcelain, which are often made from kaolin
* Bone china

Classification of technical ceramics

Technical ceramics can also be classified into three distinct material categories:

* Oxides: Alumina, zirconia
* Non-oxides: Carbides, borides, nitrides, silicides
* Composites: Particulate reinforced, combinations of oxides and non-oxides.

Each one of these classes can develop unique material properties because ceramics tend to be crystalline.

In art history, ceramics and ceramic art mean art objects such as figures, tiles, and tableware made from clay and other raw materials by the process of pottery. Some ceramic products are regarded as fine art, while others are regarded as decorative, industrial or applied art objects, or as artifacts in archaeology. They may be made by one individual or in a factory where a group of people design, make and decorate the ware. Decorative ceramics are sometimes called “art pottery”.

The word “ceramics” comes from the Greek keramikos (κεραμικος), meaning “pottery”, which in turn comes from keramos (κεραμος), meaning “potter’s clay.” Most traditional ceramic products were made from clay (or clay mixed with other materials), shaped and subjected to heat, and tableware and decorative ceramics are generally still made like that. In modern ceramic engineering usage, ceramics is the art and science of making objects from inorganic, non-metallic materials by the action of heat. It excludes glass and mosaic made from glass tesserae.

There is a very long history of ceramic art in almost all developed cultures, and often ceramic objects are all the artistic evidence left from vanished cultures, like that of the Nok in Africa over 2,000 years ago. Cultures especially noted for fine ceramics include the Chinese, Cretan, Greek, Persian, Mayan, Japanese, Dominican, and Korean cultures, as well as the modern Western cultures.

Elements of ceramic art, upon which different degrees of emphasis have been placed at different times, are the shape of the object, its decoration by painting, carving and other methods, and the glazing found on most ceramics.

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