What is…

Stoneware is made from a particular clay which is fired at a higher temperature of 1,200°C. This results in a more durable material, with a denser, stone-like quality. The finished product will be waterproof and does not need to be glazed.

Porcelain comes from a refined clay which is fired at very high temperatures of approximately 1,200–1,450°C. The result is an extremely hard, shiny material often white and translucent in appearance.

  • The earliest forms of porcelain originated in China around 1600 BC and this association popularized the term fine china, or bone china when the porcelain has had ground animal bone added to the clay, in order to create an even more durable material.

https://nomliving.com/blogs/thingswedo/pottery-and-ceramics-a-brief-explanation

The general rule is, the hotter you fire your pottery, the more water-resistant it is.

Generally, the firing temps are: (There's some overlap there because you can use different clay mixes and they transform at different temperatures.)

Ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature.

Earthenware - fired at low temperatures (below 1200°C)

  • Characterized by being water-absorbent: if you dunk it in a bucket, it'll soak up water. Stoneware doesn't; its clay particles melted together enough to keep the water out.

  • Earthenware is glazed or unglazed nonvitreous (fancy word for "not glassy") pottery that has normally been fired below 1,200 °C (2,190 °F). Basic earthenware, often called terracotta, absorbs liquids such as water.

  • Terracotta is a term used in some contexts for earthenware. It is a clay-based non-vitreous ceramic, fired at relatively low temperatures.

Stoneware - (1100°C to 1300°C)

  • Stoneware is a broad term for pottery fired at a relatively high temperature. Typically between about 1,100 °C (2,010 °F) to 1,300 °C (2,370 °F)

Porcelain - high temperatures (above 1200°C, up to 1400°C)

  • When you get a very pure clay made of one very specific mineral called kaolin, and you fire it to a very high temperature.

  • Because [chemistry], this makes a really good material that's translucent, strong and tough, which doesn't so much mean that you can't break it, but that you can make it thinner than other kinds of pottery, and still keep the normal amount of durability.

  • Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between 1,200 and 1,400 °C (2,200 and 2,600 °F).

  • Fine china most often refers to Porcelain

  • Bone china is a type of vitreous, translucent pottery,[1] the raw materials for which include bone ash, feldspathic material and kaolin.

Various terms:

  • Bone China: a special kind of clay that was meant to mimic porcelain (which came from China, hence the name, and the Europeans hadn't figured out how to make), that uses bone ash in the clay mix

  • Terracotta: basically just coarse earthenware, especially when it's not used for table dishes

  • Faience: a popular kind of glazed earthenware that was used for moderately-fancy dishes in the 1700-1800s. (It's faience when it's French or south European, and Delftware when it's Dutch or English)

    Vitrification: when the clay particles all-the-way (ehhhh) melt together, making the resulting pottery water-resistant.

    Glazing: a glassy coating that's melted onto the surface of pottery, usually in a second round of firing in a kiln.

https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1d94uvs/eli5_the_difference_between_stoneware_ceramic/