Cavern
/ˈkæv.ɚn/noun
A large cave or hollow underground chamber.
Did you know?Cavern ultimately traces back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning “to cut,” which is why its linguistic family is full of words about carving, splitting, and hollowing things out.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ker-
“to cut”
Latin
Latin
cavus
“hollow, concave”
Late Latin
Latin
caverna
“cave, hollow place”
Old French
Old French
caverne
“cavern, cave”
Middle English
English
caverne
“cave, hollow”
Modern English
English
cavern
“a large cave or underground chamber”