Excavate
/ˈek.skə.veɪt/noun
To dig out or remove earth or material from a place.
Did you know?Excavate comes from Latin excavare, built from ex- (“out”) + cavus (“hollow”), so its core image is literally “to make hollow from the inside.”
Etymological Timeline
Latin
Latin
excavare
“to hollow out, make empty”
Late Latin
Latin
excavatus
“hollowed out”
Old French
Old French
excaver
“to hollow out, dig out”
16th Century
English
excavate
“to hollow out or dig up”
Modern English
English
excavate
“to dig out earth or uncover by digging”