The latin word “tegula” and its french derivative “tuile” mean quite precisely a roof tile or baked clay.  The english “tile” is less precise , it in addition can be used for any kind of earthware slab applied to any surface of a building. The word “ceramic” comes from the greek word “keramos” meaning pottery, it is related to an old sanskrit root meaning “to burn” but was primarily used to mean “burnt stuff”.

ORIGIN

Historically, man has desired to create living spaces which were beautiful, durable, and user friendly. With that in mind, ceramic tile has been made by man for over 4000 years. Beautifully tiled surfaces have been found in the oldest pyramids of egypt, to the ruins of babylon and among ancient greek ruins.

Decorative tile was invented in the near east, where it has enjoyed a longer popularity and assumed greater variety of design than anywhere else in the world. During the Islamic period, all methods of tile decoration were brought to perfection in persia. In europe decorated tiles did not come into general use outside of spain until the second half of the 12th century. The tile mosaics of spain and portugal, the majolica floor tiles of renaissance italy, the iconography of england and the ceramic tiles of germany are all prominent notations in the history of ceramic tile.