平铺砖瓦是用作平铺于表面的硬质材料之统称，一般用于覆盖屋顶、地板、墙壁或其他物体。材质有陶瓷、金属、石材等

考古发现，公元前4千年，古希腊勒拿湖地区的人已经使用烧制的陶瓦铺盖屋顶。古罗马时期的浴池，使用了陶制的马赛克地面装饰材料。12世纪以来的伊斯兰建筑，大量使用彩色瓷砖装饰建筑墙壁，形成了伊斯兰建筑特有的风格。

A tile is a manufactured piece of hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, or even glass, generally used for covering roofs, floors, walls, showers, or other objects such as tabletops. Alternatively, tile can sometimes refer to similar units made from lightweight materials such as perlite, wood, and mineral wool, typically used for wall and ceiling applications. In another sense, a tile is a construction tile or similar object, such as rectangular counters used in playing games (see tile-based game). The word is derived from the French word tuile, which is, in turn, from the Latin word tegula, meaning a roof tile composed of fired clay.