Plates, bowls, cups, and other dishes made of ceramic or earthenware, usually for everyday use rather than fancy dining.
From 'crock' (a ceramic pot or jug, from Old English 'crocc') plus '-ery' suffix (meaning collection or place of). The term emerged in the 1700s to describe everyday pottery collectively.
The word 'crockery' reveals class distinctions in English—fine 'china' or 'porcelain' were luxury items for the rich, while 'crockery' was humble earthenware for regular people, and this vocabulary difference persisted in English until modern times when everyone stopped caring about matching your dishes.
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