Plural of clay; fine-grained soil containing minerals that becomes hard when baked, used for pottery and construction.
From Old English 'clæg,' possibly from a root meaning 'to stick.' Clay has been used for pottery for at least 20,000 years.
Clay tablets were humanity's first writing system—the Sumerians pressed cuneiform into clay around 3200 BCE, and some survive perfectly today because clay preserves information better than paper!
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