Cave
/keɪv/noun
A hollow place in the earth or a natural underground chamber.
Did you know?English cave comes through Old French from Latin *cavus* meaning “hollow,” and that same ancient root also gave us words for emptiness and concavity across the Romance languages.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*keh₂u-
“to be hollow, empty”
Latin
Latin
cavus
“hollow, concave”
Old French
Old French
cave
“a hollow place, cave”
Middle English
English
cave
“a cave, underground hollow”
Modern English
English
cave
“a natural underground chamber”