bole

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the main trunk or stem of a tree

   Moss covered the broad bole of the ancient oak.

2. 2
   noun

   a soft earthy clay, often reddish-brown, used as a pigment or as a ground beneath gilding

   The restorer applied a thin layer of red bole beneath the gold leaf.

The tree sense comes through Middle English from Old Norse bolr ('tree trunk, torso'). The clay sense is a separate word, from Middle French and Medieval Latin bolus, ultimately Greek bolos ('clod, lump of earth'). Their identical modern spelling and pronunciation are coincidental.

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