Clay Definition

klā

noun

A firm, fine-grained earth, plastic when wet, composed chiefly of hydrous aluminum silicate minerals: it is produced by the chemical decomposition of rocks or the deposit of fine rock particles in water and is used in the manufacture of bricks, pottery, and other ceramics.

Webster's New World

A hardening or nonhardening material having a consistency similar to clay and used for modeling.

American Heritage

Soil composed of mineral particles of very small size.

Webster's New World

Earth, esp. as a symbol of the material of the human body.

Webster's New World

A sedimentary material with grains smaller than 0.002 millimeter in diameter.

American Heritage

Synonyms:

Synonyms:
mud
Lucius DuBignon Clay
Lucius Clay
the Great Compromiser
henry clay
stiff
corpse
remains
cadaver
petuntse
corncob
paste
ochre
hole
fuller-s-earth

pronoun

A surname.

Wiktionary

A male given name transferred from the surname.

Wiktionary

A diminutive of the male given name Clayton.

Wiktionary

other

Kaolin, kaoline.

Wiktionary

Ball clay.

Wiktionary

Fire clay.

Wiktionary

Potter's clay.

Wiktionary

verb

To add clay to, to spread clay onto.

Wiktionary

(of sugar) To purify using clay.

Wiktionary

Other Word Forms of Clay

Noun

Singular:

clay

Plural:

clays

Origin of Clay

From Middle English clay, cley, from Old English clǣġ (“clay”), from Proto-Germanic *klajjaz (“clay”), from Proto-Indo-European *gley- (“to glue, paste, stick together”). Cognate with Dutch klei (“clay”), Low German klei (“clay”), German Klei, Danish klæg (“clay”); compare Ancient Greek γλία (glía), Latin glūs (“glue”), Ukrainian ґлей (glej, “clay”). Related also to clag, clog.

From Wiktionary
From a Middle English occupational name for a clay worker, or a habitational name, from Old English clǣġ (“clay”).

From Wiktionary
Middle English clei from Old English clæg

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition