catacomb

[kat-uh-kohm]

noun

1. Usually catacombs. an underground cemetery, especially one consisting of tunnels and rooms with recesses dug out for coffins and tombs.

2. the Catacombs, the subterranean burial chambers of the early Christians in and near Rome, Italy.

3. an underground passageway, especially one full of twists and turns.

catacomb

/ -ˌkuːm, ˈkætəˌkəʊm /

noun

1. (usually plural) an underground burial place, esp the galleries at Rome, consisting of tunnels with vaults or niches leading off them for tombs

2. a series of interconnected underground tunnels or caves

Other Word Forms

• catacumbal adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of catacomb¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English catacombe, Old English catacumbe, from Late Latin catacumbās (accusative plural); of disputed origin; perhaps from unattested Greek katakýmbās, equivalent to kata- + kýmbās, accusative plural of kýmbē “hollow, cup”; cata-

Word History and Origins

Origin of catacomb¹

Old English catacumbe, from Late Latin catacumbas (singular), name of the cemetery under the Basilica of St Sebastian, near Rome; origin unknown

Example Sentences

A maze themed to Universal’s classic creatures winds through a castle and catacombs with vintage-style horrors and a mid-show scene in which Frankenstein’s monster comes alive.

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How arduous was it to convince the Parisian officials to let you shoot in the catacombs?

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The catacombs beneath a crumbling city have cracked wide open, revealing a vast, spiraling dungeon teeming with strange beasts and stranger plants.

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Details abound, as we enter the castle’s catacombs amid a sky-high skull wall and pass the likes of the Wolfman, the Mummy and the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

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Stewart questioned: "Is there no one who can offer a more nuanced analysis of our newly formulated position in this conflict, preferably in some type of catacomb or echoey tunnel?"

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