grotto
Americannoun
plural
grottoes, grottos-
a cave or cavern.
-
an artificial cavernlike recess or structure.
noun
-
a small cave, esp one with attractive features
-
a construction in the form of a cave, esp as in landscaped gardens during the 18th century
Other Word Forms
- grottoed adjective
- grottolike adjective
Etymology
Origin of grotto
1610–20; < Italian grotta < Vulgar Latin *crupta, for Latin crypta subterranean passage, chamber. See crypt
Explanation
A grotto is a small cave, the kind of place where you feel comfortable, cozy, and protected from the harsh realities outside. This word started in Greek (as the word that also gives us crypt), turned into Latin and then Italian, and finally landed in English in the 1600s as grotto. A grotto can be natural or manmade, but either way, it's a small cave or hidden room with cool and inviting features like a comfy floor or round walls. A grotto is a good place to read, write, or just hang out with friends, especially on a hot summer day.
Vocabulary lists containing grotto
Built To Last: Architectural Parlance
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Bless Me, Ultima
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"Rules of the Game" (from The Joy Luck Club) by Amy Tan
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They lived in the tiger grotto and were fed at the Art Deco-style Lion House, built for the original Fleishhacker Zoo by the Works Progress Administration.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 18, 2025
At the side of a children's playground, there was a square of lawn with a grotto – a small shrine centred on a statue of Mary.
From BBC • Jul. 12, 2025
When I go, I wear a disposable hair net and pretend I’m a grotto nymph, crawling around the corners of my subconscious transporting me back in time.
From Los Angeles Times • May 13, 2025
Children would build grottos from the shells and pester passers-by for pennies for their efforts, with cries of "Pray remember the grotto!"
From Salon • Jan. 6, 2025
Then they descended out of the America of factory work and tyrannical foremen into an Arcadian grotto of forgetfulness.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
