Etymology

pothole

P3O1T1H4O1L1E1

Today it means: A shallow pit or other edged depression in a road's surface, especially when caused by erosion, weather or traffic. Full definition →

Middle English pot
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pothole · noun1

  1. Middle English · derived frompot
  2. English todaypothole

From dialectal pot (“pit, hollow, cavity”) + hole. The "cave" senses, attested since at least 1809 (as pot-hole), may be from Middle English pot, potte (“a deep hole for a mine, or from peat-digging”), of uncertain origin; perhaps related to English pit, pote, or pot. Compare Scots pott, patt (“a pit dug in the ground; coalpit”).

pothole · noun2

  1. Middle English · inherited from*pothol
  2. English todaypothole

From pot + hole. Attested since at least 1811 (also as pot-hole), possibly continuing Middle English *pothol (attested in the plural, potholys).

Words from the same roots

Middle Englishpot all →

potpotsherd

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.