Trade, money & lettersFrom names to words
kaolin
Porcelain clay is named after Gaoling, 'High Ridge', a village near the kilns of Jingdezhen; a French Jesuit's letter of 1712 revealed the secret, and the name, to Europe. From French it spread through the ceramics and mineral trade to German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Japanese and even back to Asia as Vietnamese cao lanh.
Weakest linkCertain