terra-cotta (n.)

1722, from Italian terra cotta, literally "cooked earth," from terra "earth" (from PIE root *ters- "to dry") + cotta "baked," from Latin cocta, fem. past participle of coquere "to cook" (from PIE root *pekw- "to cook, ripen"). As a color name for brownish-red, attested from 1882.