tile

tile, one of the ceramic products used in building, to which group brick and terra-cotta also belong. The term designates the finished baked clay—the material of a wide variety of units used in architecture and engineering, such as wall slabs or blocks, floor pavings, coverings for roofs, and drainage pipes. In these products the distinction between terra-cotta and tile is often vague, and any small flat slab of ceramic material used for veneering is also called a tile.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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