| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| terra cotta |
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| SYLLABICATION: | ter·ra cot·ta |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  t r  -k t |
| VARIANT FORMS: | or ter·ra·cot·ta or ter·ra-cot·ta |
| NOUN: | 1a. A hard semifired waterproof ceramic clay used in pottery and building construction. b. Ceramic wares made of this material. 2. A brownish orange. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Italian : terra, earth (from Latin terra; see terrace) + cotta, baked, cooked (from Latin cocta, feminine past participle of coquere, to cook; see pekw- in Appendix I).
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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