Etymograph

English

cave

Cave comes from Latin cava ‘cavity’, from cavus ‘hollow’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *kawos.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kawosreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcavus‘hollow’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcava‘cavity’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400cave
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘a cave or cavern’
  6. Englishearliest quotation a. 1611same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kawosreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcavus‘hollow’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcava‘cavity’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400cave
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form‘a cave or cavern’
  6. Englishearliest quotation a. 1611same form

Earliest quotation: a. 1611, William Shakespeare, Cymbeline: “although perhaps / It may be heard at court…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱewh₁- ‘to swell’

church, kirk, hound, cyst, cumulus, cajole, 40 more

through Proto-Italic *kawos

jailer, 15 more

through Latin cavus ‘hollow’

jail, cage, excavation, cavity, gaol, excavate, caul, cavil, 16 more

Another origin of cave

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kewh₁-‘to perceive’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kowh₁éyeti‘to perceive’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kaweō‘to beware, to be mindful of’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaveō‘to beware’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcavē
  6. Englishtodaycave

Today it means

noun A large, naturally-occurring cavity formed underground or in the face of a cliff or a hillside.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Italic *kawos / cave

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