The color term derives from Latin bōlus (or dirt) and refers to a kind of soft fine clay whose reddish-brown varieties are used as pigments, and as a coating in panel paintings and frames underneath the paint or gold leaf.

Under gold leaf, it "warms" the colour, which can have a greenish shade otherwise.

Although bole also means the trunk of a tree, these words are simply homographs that do not share an etymological origin.

The color name terra rosa has been used as a synonym for bole since 1753.

In art, it's classified as being similar to Venetian red, but more pink or salmon.