An earthenware pot, bowl, cup, or jar is made of clay that has been baked hard. The body is usually a little thick and not see-through; it may have a shiny glaze or stay dull. People have cooked and stored food in earthenware for a very long time. Though actually, not every baked-clay thing is earthenware. Porcelain is finer, whiter, and more glass-like; stoneware is baked hotter and is tougher. Earthenware is the more everyday, earthy kind. The word can name the material (earthenware bowls) or the goods as a group. It sounds a little like a shop or a craft class; at home someone might just say a clay pot.