Latin edit

Etymology edit

From Ancient Greek σπῆλυγξ (spêlunx).

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

spēlunca f (genitive spēluncae); first declension

  1. a cave, cavern, chasm
    • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 1.60-61:
      Sed pater omnipotēns spēluncīs abdidit ātrīs,
      hoc metuēns, [...].
      But the all-powerful Father [Jupiter] had hidden [the winds] in dark caverns, [because he was] fearing this [destruction], [...].
  2. a grotto
  3. a den

Declension edit

First-declension noun.

Case Singular Plural
Nominative spēlunca spēluncae
Genitive spēluncae spēluncārum
Dative spēluncae spēluncīs
Accusative spēluncam spēluncās
Ablative spēluncā spēluncīs
Vocative spēlunca spēluncae

Synonyms edit

Descendants edit

References edit

  • spelunca”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • spelunca”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • spelunca in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
  • spelunca in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
  • spelunca”, in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly