Portland cement, binding material in the form of a finely ground powder, usually gray, that is manufactured by burning and grinding a mixture of limestone and clay or limestone and shale. The inventor Joseph Aspdin, of England, patented the basic process in 1824, naming it for the resemblance of the cement when set to portland stone, a limestone from the Isle of Portland. When mixed with water, the anhydrous calcium silicates and other constituents in the portland cement react chemically with the water, combining with it (hydration) and decomposing in it (hydrolysis) and hardening and developing strength.