Meanings
plural celadons
- uncountableusuallyA pale green colour, possibly tinted with gray.
Eau de Nil (“water of the Nile”) is a tricky color to pin down precisely. It is a light-greenish hue, more saturated than celadon, less gray than sage.
2018 February 13, Katy Kelleher, “Eau de Nil, the Light-Green Color of Egypt-Obsessed Europe”, in The Paris Review - uncountableusuallyA pale green Chinese glaze.
comparative more celadon · superlative most celadon
- Of a pale green colour tinted with gray.
[H]e stroked a soft blue cat with celadon eyes which had appeared from nowhere and now made itself comfortable in his lap […].
1941, Vladimir Nabokov, The Real Life of Sebastian Knight, Penguin 1971 edition, page 40
Origin
- LatinCeladon
- Frenchcéladon
- Englishceladon
Borrowed from the French céladon, from the character named Céladon, who wore pale green ribbons, in the novel L'Astrée by Honoré d'Urfé, from Latin Celadon, a warrior's name in Ovid's Metamorphoses, related to Ancient Greek κέλᾰδος (kélădos, “din, clamour”).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 青瓷綠 /青瓷绿, 青瓷
- 青瓷綠 /青瓷绿 (qīngcí lǜ)pale green colour
- 青瓷 (qīngcí)pale green glaze
- 秘色 (mìsè)pale green glaze
- 青瓷 (qīngcí)ceramic with pale green glaze
- 秘色瓷 (mìsècí)ceramic with pale green glaze
Dutch celadon, celadon
- celadonpale green colour
- celadonpale green glaze
- celadonceramic with pale green glaze
Estonian seladon
- seladonceramic with pale green glaze
Finnish seladoni, seladoni
- seladonipale green glaze
- seladoniceramic with pale green glaze
French céladon, céladon
- céladonpale green colour
- céladonpale green glaze
- céladonceramic with pale green glaze
German Seladon
- Seladonceramic with pale green glaze
Hungarian szeladon
- szeladonceramic with pale green glaze
Italian celadon, celadon
- celadonpale green colour
- celadonpale green glaze
- celadonceramic with pale green glaze
Japanese 青磁色, 青磁
- 青磁色 (seiji iro)pale green colour
- 青磁 (seiji)pale green glaze
- 青磁 (seiji)ceramic with pale green glaze
Korean 청자
- 청자 (cheongja)ceramic with pale green glaze
Norwegian Bokmål celadon, celadon
- celadonpale green colour
- celadonpale green glaze
- celadonceramic with pale green glaze
Polish seledyn, celadon
- seledynpale green colour
- celadonpale green glaze
- seladonpale green glaze
- celadonceramic with pale green glaze
- seladonceramic with pale green glaze
Russian селадо́н, селадо́н
- селадо́н (seladón)pale green colour
- селадо́н (seladón)pale green glaze
- селадо́н (seladón)ceramic with pale green glaze
Spanish celadón, celadón
- celadónpale green colour
- celadónpale green glaze
- celadónceramic with pale green glaze
Swedish celadon, celadon
- celadonpale green colour
- celadonpale green glaze
- celadonceramic with pale green glaze
Tamil இளம்பச்சை
- இளம்பச்சை (iḷampaccai)pale green colour
Ukrainian селадо́н
- селадо́н (seladón)ceramic with pale green glaze
Vietnamese màu ngọc bích, men ngọc bích
- màu ngọc bíchpale green colour
- men ngọc bíchpale green glaze
- đồ tráng men ngọc bíchceramic with pale green glaze
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
celadon. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/celadon
“celadon.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/celadon. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “celadon,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/celadon.
Source: celadon on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.