Fun fact #1: 

My first pottery class was in Arabic. I took the class as an afternoon activity when I was a 5th grader at the Lycée Français du Caire in Cairo, Egypt. 

What got me hooked? Going to see a potter make Egyptian style carved pots during a week-long field trip to an oasis (we visited both Kharga and Dakhla) with the entire 5th grade -- one of the most impactful trips of my childhood. 

My first pottery words were in Arabic, the most important of which is fakhaar, or pottery. 

When I moved to the US and deepened my learning of the ceramic arts in high school, my ceramics vocabulary was all in English. 

Fun fact #2: 

Growing up, I spoke French. Since I was not exposed to ceramics in the French language in my early years, besides 'la poterie', I didn't know French pottery terms. Teaching at a bilingual French-English school inspired me to finally learn pottery terminology in French. 

Which brings us to....the creation of a glossary of English-French pottery terms! I am grateful to the former head of the French department for proofreading and offering suggestions. 

If you have any additions, recommendations, etc, please let me know.

Glossary of Pottery Terms 

Glossaire Lexique de la Poterie

Occupations - Métiers

Artist - Artiste

Ceramicist - Céramiste

Craftsperson - Artisan

Kiln tech - Chauffeur 

Potter - Potier / potière

Sculptor - Sculpteur / Sculpteuse / Sculpteure

Student - Étudiant.e

Teacher - Enseignant.e

Wheel-thrower - Tourneur 

What do potters do? - Que font les potiers? 

Centering clay on the wheel - Centrage 

Coil-building - Fabriquer par colombinage

Finishing pieces - Finissage 

Hand-building - Fabriquer à la main 

Make pottery - Faire de la poterie 

Press-molding (slump or hump) - Estampage  

Slab-building - Fabriquer par plaques 

Slip-casting - Coulage en barbotine 

Throw pots - Tourner des pots 

To clean - Nettoyer 

To trim - Tournasser 

Wedging - Pétrir 

Wheel-throwing - Tournage

Workshop Tools - Outils de l’atelier 

Bat - Rondeau

Bucket - Seau

Banding wheel - Tournette 

Calipers - Compas 

Chuck - Mandrin 

Cut-off wire - Fil à couper / fil en fer 

Fettling knife - Couteau de potier 

Loop tool - Mirette 

Mold - Moule  

Paint brush - Pinceau

Pintool / needle tool - Aiguille

Potter’s wheel - Tour de potier 

Rib (wood or metal) - Estèque (bois ou métal) 

Rolling pin - Rouleau à pâte

Ruler - Règle

Scale - Balance 

Splash pan - Garde-boue

Sponge - Éponge 

Tongs - Des pinces

Trimming tool - Tournassin 

Wedging table - Dalle to pétrissage

Wheel - Girelle 

Wooden knife - Couteau de bois

Wooden modeling tool - Ébauchoir 

Clay - Argile 

Air bubbles - Des bulles d’air  

Bisque - Biscuit

Bone dry - Sèche

Coil - Colombin 

Low fire bisque - Dégourdi 

Dust - Poussière

Earthenware - Faïence

Grog - Chamotte

Leather hard - Consistance du cuir 

Plasticity - Plastique 

Porcelain - Porcelaine

Slab - Plaque

Slip - Barbotine

Stoneware - Grès

Thick - Épais(se)

Thin - Mince 

The Kiln - Le Four 

Cone - Cône 

Cracks - Fissures 

Explosion - Une explosion

Firing - Cuisson 

Fill a kiln - Encastage 

Pinhole - Coque d’oeuf / gerçure

To candle - Préchauffer

To cool - Refroidir 

To fire - Cuire

To load - Remplir

Shelf - Tablette

Stilt - Pilier

Glazing - Émaillage

Crawled - Retiré(e)

Crazed - Trésaillé(e)

Dip glazing - Trempage

Food safe - sans risque pour l’alimentation 

Glaze - Émail 

Glossy - Brillant 

Matt - Mate

Metal oxides - Oxydes métalliques 

Opaque - Opaque

Speckled - Tacheté(e) 

Transparent - Transparente 

Underglaze - Sous-glaçure

Unglazed - Non-émaillé(e)

Wax resist - Réserve à la cire 

Decorations - Décorations 

Devil’s work (Linglong, guigong) - Linglong 

Kintsugi - Kintsugi (jointure en or)

Mishima - Mishima

Sgraffito - Sgraffite

To imprint - Empreinter

To stamp - Tamponner 

Types of pots - Types de pots 

Bottle - Bouteille

Bowl - Bol 

Coil pot - Pot par colombins

Cup - Tasse 

Flower pot - Pot à fleurs / vase 

Functional pottery - Poterie utilitaire 

Gobelet - Gobelet / Coupe 

Pinch pot - Pot par la méthode d’amincissement

Plate - Assiette

Platter - Plat

Pot - Pot

Tray - Plateau

Parts of a pot - Parties d’un pot 

Base - Base 

Body - Le corps d’un pot

Foot - Pied

Handle - Anse

Lid - Couvercle

Lip - Lèvre

Mouth - Embouchure 

Neck - Col

Rim - Bord

Shoulder - Épaule

Spout - Bec

Wall - Mur