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catacomb

[ kat-uh-kohm ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

Usually catacombs. an underground cemetery, especially one consisting of tunnels and rooms with recesses dug out for coffins and tombs.
the Catacombs, the subterranean burial chambers of the early Christians in and near Rome, Italy.
an underground passageway, especially one full of twists and turns.

catacomb

/ -ˌkuːm; ˈkætəˌkəʊm /

noun

usually plural an underground burial place, esp the galleries at Rome, consisting of tunnels with vaults or niches leading off them for tombs
a series of interconnected underground tunnels or caves

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Other Word Forms

��·��·��ܳ�·�� [kat-, uh, -, kuhm, -b, uh, l], adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of catacomb¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English catacombe, Old English catacumbe, from Late Latin ��ٲ��ܳ�� (accusative plural); of disputed origin; perhaps from unattested Greek �첹�ٲ��ý��, equivalent to kata- + ��ý��, accusative plural of ��ý��ŧ “hollow, cup”; cata-

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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

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

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.

From

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?"

From

“If you wiggle through this hole, you’ll fall through it and down into the catacombs.”

From

At some point a local official in Paris suggested the catacombs under the city be emptied and sent to sugar factories.

From

A mysterious, multi-leveled dungeon has appeared in a tiny village after the catacombs beneath it split.

From

cataclysmic catadioptric

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