cavern
[kav-ern]
- a cave, especially one that is large and mostly underground.
- Pathology. a cavity that is produced by disease, especially one produced in the lungs by tuberculosis.
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- to enclose in or as if in a cavern.
- to hollow out to form a cavern.
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Origin of cavern
1325–75; Middle English caverne < Latin caverna, equivalent to cav(us) hollow + -erna, as in cisterna cistern
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for cavern
Contemporary Examples
The Beatles Story Museum features a replica of the Cavern Club and a Fab 4D animated cinema show.
Catch Beatles Fever! Ten Essential Travel Destinations for BeatlemaniacsLonely Planet
January 3, 2014
Next door to the museum is a clone of the Cavern Club, the Beatle Café and the Sala John Lennon stand-up comedy theatre.
Catch Beatles Fever! Ten Essential Travel Destinations for BeatlemaniacsLonely Planet
January 3, 2014
Her body was covered with a blanket when it was found inside a cavern of the ancient walls, obscuring it from view.
Historical Examples
It was soothing to his eyes, so used to the darkness of the Nibelungs' cavern.
Opera Stories from WagnerFlorence Akin
In an instant they fled into the darkest corner of the cavern.
Old Greek Folk Stories Told AnewJosephine Preston Peabody
The Sibyl placed them in rows on the ledges of rock inside the cavern.
Classic MythsMary Catherine Judd
Charley was a few yards ahead of me, and ran stooping into the cavern.
Wilfrid CumbermedeGeorge MacDonald
All around the dais, seated on the sloping floor of the cavern, were Lakonians.
Priestess of the FlameSewell Peaslee Wright
cavern
- a cave, esp when large and formed by underground water, or a large chamber in a cave
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- to shut in or as if in a cavern
- to hollow out
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Word Origin
C14: from Old French caverne, from Latin caverna, from cavus hollow; see cave 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for cavern
n.
late 14c., from Old French caverne (12c.) "cave, vault, cellar," from Late Latin caverna "cave," from Latin cavus "hollow" (see cave (n.)). In Old English such a land feature might be called an eorðscræf.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
cavern
[kăv′ərn]
- A large cave.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.