Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definitions: Cavern |
CavernNoun1. Any large dark enclosed space; "his eyes were dark caverns". 2. A large cave or a large chamber in a cave. Verb1. Hollow out as if making a cavern. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "cavern" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references) |
Etymology: Cavern \Cav"ern\, noun. [Latin expression caverna, from cavus hollow: compare to the French expression caverne.]. (Websters 1913) |
Synonym: CavernSynonym: cavern out (v). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Concavity | Valley, vale, dale, dell, dingle, combe, bottom, slade, strath, glade, grove, glen, cave, cavern, cove; grot, grotto; alcove, cul-de-sac; gully; arch; (curve); bay; (of the sea). |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Cavern |
| English words defined with "cavern": Antre ♦ Carlsbad Caverns National Park, cavern out, Caverned, cavernous ♦ Enwomb ♦ Incaverned ♦ Mammoth Cave National Park ♦ sinkhole, Souterrain, Spelunc, swallow hole. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "cavern": Acherusia, Androcles and the Lion ♦ Birth ♦ Cavern or Cave ♦ drip stone ♦ Fingal's Cave ♦ Nekeb ♦ Sigun'a ♦ Wokey. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "cavern": grotto ♦ troglodyte. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Lyrics | In a cavern, in a canyon, (Clementine; performing artist: Tom Lehrer) | |
Movie/TV Titles | The Cavern Spider (1924) Live at the Cavern Club Paul McCartney (1999) Journey to the Magic Cavern Josh Kirby... Time Warrior: Chapter 5 (1995) Dark Cavern (1982) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
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Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Intrepid explorers were rewarded by glimpses of crystal-lined ice cavern.Credit: Paths Less Taken - NOAA at the Ends of the Earth. |  | "An Ice Cavern in the Winter".... In: "The Heart of the Antarctic", Volume I, by E. H. Shackleton, 1909. P.194. Library Call Number G149 S52.Credit: Paths Less Taken - NOAA at the Ends of the Earth. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | This cavern, which was called the choir, communicated with the cloister by a narrow passage. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | BIRTH, n. The first and direst of all disasters. As to the nature of it there appears to be no uniformity. Castor and Pollux were born from the egg. Pallas came out of a skull. Galatea was once a block of stone. Peresilis, who wrote in the tenth century, avers that he grew up out of the ground where a priest had spilled holy water. It is known that Arimaxus was derived from a hole in the earth, made by a stroke of lightning. Leucomedon was the son of a cavern in Mount Aetna, and I have myself seen a man come out of a wine cellar. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Cavern" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 98.65% of the time. "Cavern" is used about 148 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 98.65% | 146 | 26,107 |
| Noun (proper) | 1.35% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Total | 100.00% | 148 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expression using "cavern": cavern out. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "cavern": cavern-church, cavern-desk, cavern-like, cavern-roof, cavern-temple. | |
Ending with "cavern": ice-cavern. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
carlsbad cavern | 952 | virginia cavern | 50 |
luray cavern | 505 | moaning cavern | 49 |
dark cavern | 487 | cavern texas | 47 |
cavern | 420 | florida cavern | 47 |
howe cavern | 213 | cathedral cavern | 45 |
natural bridge cavern | 207 | cavern inner space | 44 |
meramec cavern | 154 | cavern forbidden | 43 |
kartchner cavern | 139 | carlsbad cavern national park | 40 |
ohio cavern | 111 | cavern shasta | 39 |
blanchard springs cavern | 92 | dark cavern interracial | 37 |
desoto cavern | 86 | cavern sonora | 36 |
cavern clark lewis | 84 | seneca cavern | 36 |
linville cavern | 79 | carlsbad cavern new mexico | 35 |
howes cavern | 71 | smoke hole cavern | 33 |
cavern laurel | 70 | boone cavern squire | 33 |
indian echo cavern | 65 | longhorn cavern | 32 |
cavern fantastic | 60 | florida cavern state park | 31 |
cavern meramac | 59 | alabaster cavern | 31 |
california cavern | 52 | cavern skyline | 29 |
grand canyon cavern | 51 | cavern meremac | 29 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "cavern"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Afrikaan | grot (cave, den, grotto). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | uxhë (cave), shpellë (cave, grotto). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | كهف كبير, كهف (cave, grotto), مغارة (cave). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | каверна, понор (kettle, pot hole, swallow-hole), пещера (cave, cove, hollow, lair). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 洞穴, 大地洞 . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | sluj (cave, grotto), jeskynì (cave, grotto). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | caverne (cavity), kaverne (cavity). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | holte (alcove, cave, cavity, cisterna, den, depth, hole, moulded depth, pore, recess, sheer line depth, space, vacancy, void), spelonk (cave, den), krocht (cave, den), hol (cave, cavity, concave, den, empty, hollow, thin, void), grot (cave, den, grotto). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Esperanto | kaverno (cave, den). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Faeroese | hola (cabin, cave, cavity, den, hut, shack). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | مغاک (Abyss), چال (Trench), گودال (Cavity, Grave, Hole, Pit, Puddle, Sinus, Swag, Trench, Vesicle), حفره زیرزمینی , حفره (Cavity, Cell, Dale, Delve, Ditch, Hole, Lacuna, Pit, Pothole, Sinus, Socket, Ventricle), غار (Cave, Crypt, Den, Grotto, Vault). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | caverne (cave, cavity), antre (cave, cavity). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | höhle (antrum, burrow, cave, cavity, den, grotto, hole, hollow, hovel, lair, pothole, socket), kaverne (cave, cavity). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | σπήλαιο (cave, cavity, grotto), άντρο (cave]). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | מער" (cave, den, grotto), קר" (crevice, hole). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | barlang (cave, cove, delve, den, grot, grotto, grottoes), üreg (cave, cavity, chamber, cove, cubbyhole, delve, excavation, foss, fossa, fosse, hole, hollow, lodge, pot hole, recess, sinus, socket, vug, well). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indonesian | gua besar. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | caverna (cave, cavity, saucer-shaped pit, scar). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 岩窟 (cave), 岩穴 (grotto), 岩屋 (grotto), 巌窟 (cave). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | が"くつ (bend forward, cave), いわあな (grotto), いわや (grotto). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Korean | 동굴. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | ooig (antar, cave, den, grotto, hotbed, pit, stope). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Norwegian | grotte (cave, den, grotto). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | averncay caverna (antre, cave, cavity, delve, den, grotto, haunt, hollow, lair), furna (cave, grotto). (various references) cavernã (cave, cavity, hollow), peşterã (cave, grotto), grotã (cave, den, grot, grotto). (various references) пещера (cave, grotto, hollow). (various references) uamh (cave, den). (various references) velika pećina, kaverna. (various references) cueva (cave, cellar, den, grotto, nest, pothole), caverna (catacomb, cave, cavity). (various references) jordkula, håla (burrow, cave, cove, den, dump, fossa, hole, lair, lie), grotta (cave, grotto). (various references) เจาะเป็นถ้ำ, ถ้ำ (cave, grotto), อยู่ในถ้ำ. (various references) patolojik doku boşluğu, oyuk (alcove, bore, burrow, cavity, excavation, gouge, hallow, hole, hollow, niche, pit, pocket, sinus, socket), mağara (cave, den, grotto), büyük mağara. (various references) карстова пустота, каверна (cavity), печера (antre, cabin, cave, grotto). (various references) ogof (cave, den, grotto). (various references) aktun (cave, den, grotto). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Sumerian | 3100 BCE-2500 BCE | habrud. (various references) |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | antra, antris, antro, antrum, caverna, crypta, specus, spelunca. (various references) |
| Late Latin | 300-700 | caverna. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "cavern": caverned, cavernicolous, caverning, cavernous, cavernously, caverns. (additional references) | |
| |
"Cavern" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Caderni, Caehrun, caern, cavan, Cavani, cavar, cavaran, cavein, caven, cavent, cavere, cavernoma, cavero, cavert, cavery, ceven, civen, civer, Colvern, covern, kamerun, Kervern, Mcavan, Mccavery, savern, Saverne. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "cavern" (pronounced ka"vern) |
| 4 | -a" v er n | tavern. |
| 3 | -v er n | govern. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: carven, craven. | |
| Words within the letters "a-c-e-n-r-v" | |
-1 letter: caner, carve, caver, crane, crave, nacre, rance, raven. | |
-2 letters: acne, acre, aver, cane, care, carn, cave, earn, narc, nave, near, race, rave, vane, vena, vera. | |
-3 letters: ace, ane, arc, are, ave, can, car, ear, era, ern, nae, ran, rec, rev, vac, van, var. | |
-4 letters: ae, an, ar, en, er, na, ne, re. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-c-e-n-r-v" | |
+1 letter: caverns, cravens. | |
+2 letters: advancer, canvaser, caverned, conferva, cravened, cravenly, czarevna, navicert, novercal, revanche, variance, verdancy, vernacle, veronica, vibrance, vicenary. | |
+3 letters: advancers, canvasers, canvasser, caravaned, caravaner, carnivore, caverning, cavernous, clavering, confervae, confervas, cravening, czarevnas, grievance, incurvate, navicerts, overclean, relevance, relevancy, revanches, scavenger, severance, variances, vernacles, veronicas, vibrances. | |
+4 letters: advertence, advertency, cadaverine, cantilever, canvassers, caravaners, caravanned, caravanner, caregiving, carnivores, cavalrymen, changeover, contravene, conversant, covariance, covenanter, covenantor, cravenness, crevassing, governance, grievances, incurvated, incurvates, invariance, inveteracy, observance, overacting, overaction, overcleans, prevalence, provenance, purveyance, relevances, revanchism, revanchist, revocation, scavengers, serviceman, severances, survivance, uncreative, vacationer, vagrancies, verdancies, vernacular, vibrancies, vicariance, vociferant, vulcanizer. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)43 61 76 65 72 6E |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references)-.-. .- ...- . .-. -. |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01000011 01100001 01110110 01100101 01110010 01101110 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)C a v e r n |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0043 0061 0076 0065 0072 006E |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)376788718480 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Quotations: Fiction | 9. Quotations: Non-fiction 10. Usage Frequency 11. Expressions 12. Expressions: Internet | 13. Translations: Modern 14. Translations: Ancient 15. Derivations 16. Rhymes | 17. Anagrams 18. Orthography 19. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
