Ceramics are inorganic non-metallic solids that are made up of either metal or non-metal compounds that have been shaped and then hardened by heating to high temperatures. They are generally hard, corrosion-resistant, and brittle. The term "ceramic materials" is a wide-ranging category largely defined by a lack of organic substances and metallic elements. Ceramics can be composed of clay, minerals, oxides, and other compounds. They are used in a wide range of applications, from pottery and building products to advanced ceramics used in industries such as metals production and processing, aerospace, electronics, automotive, and medicine.

In ceramic chemistry, fired glazes are viewed as composed of oxides such as SiO2, Al2O3, B2O3, Na2O, K2O, CaO, Li2O, MgO, ZnO, MnO, Fe2O3, and CoO. Each oxide is known to contribute specific properties to the fired glass. Ceramic technicians use this science to fix glaze defects, substitute frits, incorporate better, cheaper materials, or replace no-longer-available ones, and adjust glaze melting temperature, gloss, surface character, and color.

The properties of ceramic materials are dictated by the types of atoms present, the types of bonding between the atoms, and the way the atoms are packed together. The two most common chemical bonds for ceramic materials are covalent and ionic. Most ceramics are hard, chemically inert, refractory, and poor conductors of heat and electricity.