grotto

grotto
\ \ [17] Grotto and crypt are ultimately the same word. The source of both was Greek krúptē, originally ‘hidden place’, hence ‘vault’.
\ \ English acquired crypt directly from krúptē’s Latin descendant, crypta, but grotto came via a more circuitous route. Crypta became *crupta or *grupta in Vulgar Latin, and this produced Italian grotta, later grotto. French borrowed it as grotte, and the earliest English form, the now obsolete grot [16], came from French, but in the 17th century the Italian version of the word established itself.
\ \ Cf.CRYPT, GROTESQUE

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Grotto — Morchino, Pazzallo Lugano, in Hermann Hesses Novelle Klingsors letzter Sommer von 1919 erwähnt Als Grotto bezeichnet man in der italienischen Schweiz (Kanton Tessin) ein rustikales Lokal mit grosszügig angelegtem Restaurationsbereich im Freien… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • grotto — grot to (gr[o^]t t[ o]), n.; pl. {Grottoes} (gr[o^]t t[=o]z). [Formerly grotta, fr. It. grotta, LL. grupta, fr. L. crypta a concealed subterranean passage, vault, cavern, Gr. kry pth, fr. krypto s concealed, fr. kry ptein to conceal. Cf. {Grot},… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Grotto — Grotto, falsche Schreibweise für Luigi Groto (s. d.) …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • grotto — / grɔt:o/ s.m. [da grotta ]. 1. (non com.) [luogo scosceso] ▶◀ dirupo. ‖ abisso, anfratto, baratro, burrone, precipizio, strapiombo. 2. (estens., region.) [luogo in cui si vende e si beve vino] ▶◀ cantina, osteria …   Enciclopedia Italiana

  • grotto — 1610s, from It. grotta, ultimately from L. crypta vault, cavern, from Gk. krypte hidden place (see CRYPT (Cf. crypt)). Terminal o may be from its being spelled that way in many translations of Dante s Divine Comedy …   Etymology dictionary

  • grotto — has the plural form grottoes …   Modern English usage

  • grotto — [n] cave antre, cavern, cavity, chamber, den, hollow, rock shelter, subterrane, underground chamber; concept 509 …   New thesaurus

  • grotto — ► NOUN (pl. grottoes or grottos) ▪ a small picturesque cave, especially an artificial one in a park or garden. ORIGIN Italian grotta, from Greek krupt vault …   English terms dictionary

  • grotto — [grät′ō] n. pl. grottoes or grottos [It grotta < ML grupta < VL crupta, for L crypta, CRYPT] 1. a cave 2. a cavelike summerhouse, shrine, etc …   English World dictionary

  • Grotto — For other uses, see Grotto (disambiguation). A Marian grotto in Bischofferode (Germany) A grotto (Italian grotta and French grotte ) is any type of natural or artificial cave that is associated with modern, historic or prehistoric use by humans.… …   Wikipedia

  • grotto — grottoed, adj. grottolike, adj. /grot oh/, n., pl. grottoes, grottos. 1. a cave or cavern. 2. an artificial cavernlike recess or structure. [1610 20; < It grotta < VL *crupta, for L crypta subterranean passage, chamber. See CRYPT] * * * ▪ cave… …   Universalium

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