Disputatio:Opus fictile

Ceramic/pottery

Hi Andrew, I just thought that figlina might be better for en:pottery rather than en:ceramic, but I cannot think of any other word for ceramic, other than terra. What do you think?--Xaverius 11:01, 25 Octobris 2008 (UTC)

Figlina is the art, not the pots. When you can't find a Latin word for an English word, try a synonym of the English word. Cassell's doesn't have a Latin term for the English word ceramic, but under the English word earthenware you'll find the Latin noun fictilia (-ium, pl.) and the Latin adjective fictilis, -e. Will these words help? IacobusAmor 11:08, 25 Octobris 2008 (UTC)

I was trying to do that from Spanish synonims. So figlina would be es:Alfarería and then fictilia es:cerámica?--Xaverius 11:10, 25 Octobris 2008 (UTC)

Yes, that's it, surely. If you want a singular word for the heading (corresponding with the en:wiki "Ceramic") then it would be fictile neut. sg. This is for focusing on the materials. If you are focusing on the work done with ceramic materials, I think you can have the phrase opus fictile. Andrew Dalby (disputatio) 11:21, 25 Octobris 2008 (UTC)

OK, I'll put this in the disputatio--Xaverius 13:11, 25 Octobris 2008 (UTC)

The interwiki on this page are all screwed up: ceramics is not the same as pottery.

There are a lot of ceramics (latine ceramica) that have nothing to do with pottery or earthware, and includes things such as glass, graphite, boron, alumina, porcelain, etc.... There is also the science/engineering art of ceramics (et Latine ceramica), which studies these types of materials and their manufacture; whose professionals are known as ceramists (ceramista or ceramicus).

At present the page es:ceramica is about ceramic materials per se, and not specifically about clay (fictile) or earthenware (opus fictile, figlina), which comprise only a small portion of ceramics; yet es:ceramica and similar pages are the ones that opus fictile and fictile are linked to. Thus the links are all screwed up. Don't get confused about the fact that the greek word κέραμος (keramos) means fictile, in borrowed form it means something wider and scientific.--123.192.69.44 13:57, 24 Augusti 2011 (UTC)

Scientia dubia

I'm surprised that I put this tag on the page without explaining -- but clearly I did so. Sorry. What I meant was that Isidore is not a reliable source for real etymologies. No writer anywhere is reliable on that subject before about 1800: etymology as we know it just wasn't understood before then. So the word's origin, if discussed, needs to cite a modern source. Andrew Dalby (disputatio) 13:31, 24 Augusti 2011 (UTC)