Vase

vāz, or v[ä]z, n. a ve el of stone, metal, gla , or earthenware, anciently used for domestic purposes and in offering sacrifices: an ornamental ve el generally of an antique pattern: a sculptured, vaselike ornament: ( arch it. ) the body of the Corinthian capital.— n. Vase′-paint′ing , the decoration of vases with pigments, esp. the decoration of the pottery of the ancient Greeks.— adj. Vā′siform .— Etruscan vases , Greek vases so called mistakenly because found in Etruscan tombs; Portland vase , a famous Græco-Roman cameo-gla with reliefs in opaque white gla on a dark-blue ground, 9¾ inches high, now preserved in the British Museum. [Fr.,—L. vasum or vas .]