Pothole

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early 19th century: from Middle English pot ‘pit’ (perhaps of Scandinavian origin) + hole.

wiktionary

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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”).

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

etymonline

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pothole (n.)

also pot-hole, "more or less cylindrical cavity from a few inches to several feet deep in rock," 1826, originally a geological feature in glaciers and gravel beds, from Middle English pot "a pit, a hollow, a deep hole for a mine or from peat-digging" (mid-15c.; 12c. in place-names), now generally obsolete in those senses, but preserved in Scotland and northern England dialect; perhaps ultimately from or related (via a Scandinavian source) to pot (n.1) on notion of "deep, cylindrical shape." Applied to a hole in a road from 1909.