Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A hard semifired waterproof ceramic clay used in pottery and building construction.
  • noun Ceramic wares made of this material.
  • noun A brownish orange.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A hard pottery made for use as a building-material and for similar purposes, of much finer quality and harder baked than brick; in the usual acceptation of the term, all unglazed pottery, or any article made of such pottery.
  • noun A work in terra-cotta, especially a work of art: specifically applied to small figures (statuettes) or figurines in this material, which have held an important place in art both in ancient and in modern times, and are of peculiar interest in the study of Greek art, which is presented by them in a more popular and familiar light than is possible with works of greater pretensions. See Tanagra figurine (under figurine), and see also cut under Etruscan.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Alternative spelling of terracotta.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a hard unglazed brownish-red earthenware

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Italian : terra, earth (from Latin; see terrace) + cotta, baked, cooked (from Latin cocta, feminine past participle of coquere, to cook; see pekw- in Indo-European roots).]

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