''terracotta'' ▫ᴱᴺ Entries

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''terracotta'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260215184259-00-⌔

terracotta - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Noun

terracotta (usually uncountable, plural terracottas)

• A hard red-brown unglazed earthenware, used for pottery and building construction.
  • ✤ Among her busts in terra cotta are those of John Brown, Charles Sumner, Lincoln, and Longfellow.¹
• A reddish brown colour, like that of terra cotta.
  • ✤ terracotta:

Adjective

terracotta (not comparable)

• Of the colour of terracotta.
  • ✤ A dull red or terracotta brown is far better, and sets off the foliage of Palms or Ferns to greater advantage.²
  • ✤ She looked cool in a grey tailored cotton dress with a terracotta scarf and shoes and her hair a black silk helmet.³
  • ✤ But let’s not judge them by the content of their character. Let’s judge them by the colour of their skin, which is terracotta.⁴

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian terra (“earth”) + cotta (“baked”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˌtɛɹ.əˈkɒt.ə/
• Audio (Southern England): 🔊
• (US) IPA: /ˌtɛɹ.əˈkɑt.ə/

Printed 2026-06-28.

(echo:: @ ⌗)

Footnotes

1. 1918, Benjamin Brawley, “XI. Sculptors.—Meta Warrick Fuller”, in The Negro in Literature and Art in the United States, page 113: ↩

2. 1892 June 18, F. W. B., “Why Paint a Greenhouse White?”, in The Garden, volume 41, page 569: ↩

3. 1963, Margery Allingham, “Dangerous Lady”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 36: ↩

4. 2012 July 1, Charlie Brooker, “The cast of Geordie Shore are the noblest people in Britain today”, in The Guardian ‎${}^{[1]}$: ↩

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