terra-cotta

adjective

1. made of or having the color of terra cotta.

noun

1. a hard, fired clay, brownish-red in color when unglazed, that is used for architectural ornaments and facings, structural units, pottery, and as a material for sculpture.
2. something made of terra cotta.
3. a brownish-orange color like that of unglazed terra cotta.

n.1722, from Italian terra cotta, literally “cooked earth,” from terra “earth” (see terrain) + cotta “baked,” from Latin cocta, fem. past participle of coquere (see cook (n.)). As a color name for brownish-red, attested from 1882.