A ceramic or glass material made by fusing mineral ingredients together, used as a base for glazes and enamels.
From Italian 'fritta,' past participle of 'friggere' meaning 'to fry' or 'to melt.' The term evolved from the cooking process of melting materials together, applied to ceramics around the 16th century.
Ancient potters discovered that pre-melting ingredients together created stronger, more reliable glazes—it's like the difference between mixing dry ingredients versus combining them while heated, which is why this 'cooked' approach became fundamental to ceramics worldwide.
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