overfired

English

WOTD – 8 July 2020

Pronunciation

A sherd of the rim of an overfired (sense 1) post-medieval (c. 1600–1700) blackware vessel found in Nottinghamshire, England, U.K. The overfiring is detectable from the fact that the dark glaze has small air bubbles in its surface.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌəʊvəˈfaɪəd/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌoʊvɚˈfaɪ(ə)ɹd/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪəd
• Hyphenation: over‧fir‧ed

Etymology 1

From over- (prefix meaning ‘above; excessively’) +‎ fired, or overfire +‎ -ed.

Adjective

overfired (not generally comparable, comparative more overfired, superlative most overfired)

1. (comparable, ceramics) Fired at a high (or excessively high) temperature.

   Antonym: underfired

   • 1919, United States. Bureau of Standards, Technologic Papers of the Bureau of Standards, Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, page 15:

     At this point overfiring begins, as is shown particularly by the volume curve, which indicates decided bloating, so that at 1450°C the clay has about the same volume it had at 1050°C before vitrification took place. At 1450°C it is, therefore, decidedly overfired. However, its excellent burning behavior is apparent from the long temperature range.

   • 1976, Dorothy Menzel, Pottery Style and Society in Ancient Peru: Art as a Mirror of History in the Ica Valley, 1350–1570, Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, →ISBN, page 30, column 2:

     A large percentage of all Late Horizon fragments at this site was overfired, to the point where many were vitrified, black to dark brown, and misshapen, some with blistered surfaces. This observation leads me to conclude that these fragments probably formed the discards from a pottery workshop, since overfired fragments of this kind are very rare in other refuse sites.

   • 1996, Yvonne Hutchinson Cuff, Ceramic Technology for Potters and Sculptors, London: A & C Black; Philadelphia, Pa.: University of Pennsylvania Press, →ISBN, page 255:

     Overfired Glaze This occurs when a glaze has been fired above the temperature for which it has been compounded. It may also occur if the glaze has been soaked for too long at or near the top temperature. Although the first cause is the most common, the second should not be overlooked. An overfired glaze may run off the object onto the kiln shelf or form a pool of glaze inside a pot. In some cases overfired glazes look thin because some of the glaze constituents have volatilized, or because the glaze has become so fluid that it has soaked into the body.

   • 2001, Aleydis Van der Moortel, “The Area around the Kiln, and the Pottery from the Kiln and the Kiln Dump”, in Joseph W. Shaw, Aleydis Van der Moortel, Peter M. Day, Vassilis Kilikoglu, A LM 1A Ceramic Kiln in South-central Crete: Function and Pottery Production (Hesperia Supplement; 30), Princeton, N.J.: American School of Classical Studies at Athens, →ISBN, pages 25–26:

     First, there are more than 300 ceramic wasters distributed throughout the deposit, as well as small numbers of burned and overfired sherds and badly deformed vessels. Some vases could not be fitted together properly, presumably because they had been broken during firing, and their parts subsequently had been warped [...].

   • 2004, Frank Hamer, Janet Hamer, The Potter’s Dictionary of Materials and Techniques, 5th edition, London: A & C Black; Philadelphia, Pa.: University of Pennsylvania Press, →ISBN, page 248, column 1:

     An overfired biscuit has insufficient porosity for glazing. An overfired body warps and bloats. An overfired glaze often blisters by the volatilization of part of its composition. It also reaches a stage where its viscosity is too low to keep it on the pot.

2. (not comparable, cooking) Of a cooker: having a heat source that is above the food being cooked.

   Antonym: underfired

   • 2006, “Flame Protection Systems”, in Frank Saxon, editor, Tolley’s Industrial and Commercial Gas Installation Practice (Gas Service Technology; 3), 4th edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire, Burlington, Mass.: Elsevier Newnes, →ISBN:

     Overfired grills, or salamanders, can, in addition, be used for making toast and salamandering. They have the heat source above the food [...]. This may comprise sets of burners firing below refractory or metal frets, or surface combustion plaques.

   • 2009, Peter Osbaldeston, The Palm Springs Diner’s Bible: […], Gretna, La.: Pelican Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 250:

     Steak lovers want a charred surface and a rare, even cold, center. A high-tech overfired broiler is the secret. This kind of broiler delivers tremendous heat that is both predictable and consistent.

Alternative forms

• over-fired

Translations

fired at a high (or excessively high) temperature

of a cooker: having a heat source above the food being cooked

Etymology 2

From overfire +‎ -ed.

Verb

overfired

1. simple past and past participle of overfire