cueua

Old Spanish

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *cova, feminine of *covus, an alteration of Latin cavus (“hollow”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkweβa/

Noun

cueua f (plural cueuas)

1. cave
   • c. 1250, Alfonso X, Lapidario, f. 17r:

     Et ſon falladas dellas; unas grandes ⁊ otras pequẽnas ⁊ de muchas formas. Et fallan las en el monte dela luna alli do naſce el nilo en fondo dunas cueuas que y a.

     And they are found, some big and others small, and in many shapes. And they find them in the mountain of the moon, there where the Nile has its source, in the depths of some caves there.

   • Idem, f. 62v.

     Et eſtas piedras que yazen en aquella cueua no las pueden ende auer ſi no deſta guisa. que quando crece el ryo por grand aguaducho.

     And therefore the stones that lie in that cave they cannot reach but in this manner; when the river grows and becomes a large torrent.

Descendants

• Spanish: cueva
  • Chavacano: cueva
  • → Bikol Central: kuweba
  • → Cebuano: kuweba
  • → Ilocano: kueba
  • → Tagalog: kuweba
  • → Waray-Waray: kuweba