cavus

See also: çavuş

English

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin cavus (“a hollow, hole”). Doublet of cave and cavum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkeɪ.vəs/
• Rhymes: -eɪvəs

Noun

cavus (plural cavi)

1. (geology) In planetary geology, an irregular steep-sided depression that does not seem to be an impact crater.

Related terms

• pes cavus

Anagrams

• UCAVs

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *kawos, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *ḱowh₁ós (“hollow”), from *ḱewh₁- (“to swell”). Related to Old Irish cúas (“hollow, cavity”), Tocharian B kor (“throat”), Albanian cup (“odd, uneven”), Ancient Greek κῠ́ᾰρ (kúar, “eye of needle, earhole”), Old Armenian սոր (sor, “hole”), Sanskrit शून्य (śūnya, “empty, barren, zero”), Etruscan 𐌂𐌀𐌅𐌄𐌈 (caveθ). Further related to Proto-Germanic *hūnaz (“outgrowth, swelling; block of wood; offspring”), whence English hune and hound (“projection on a masthead, foretop; bar”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈka.u̯us/, [ˈkäu̯ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈka.vus/, [ˈkäːvus]

Adjective

cavus (feminine cava, neuter cavum, comparative cavior); first/second-declension adjective

1. hollow, hollowed out, cavernous, concave

   Antonym: plēnus

   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 1.81–82:

     Haec ubi dicta, cavum conversā cuspide montem
     impulit in latus [...].

     As soon as these words were said, [King Aeolus], with [his] lance-head turned over, struck the hollow mountain on [its] side [...].
     (The A-B-B-A pattern known as chiasmus: “cavum conversa cuspide montem.” This example separates the adjective “cavum” from its noun “montem,” and creates rhythmical alliteration and consonance through three successive hard “c” sounds. In addition, the Latin word order in lines 81-82 builds tension: The reader first pictures the hollow mountain, next the king dramatically overturning his spear towards it, and lastly striking his spear against the mountainside.)

2. excavated, channeled
3. vain, empty

   Synonym: inānis

Inflection

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	cavus	cava	cavum		cavī	cavae	cava
Genitive	cavī	cavae	cavī		cavōrum	cavārum	cavōrum
Dative	cavō		cavō		cavīs
Accusative	cavum	cavam	cavum		cavōs	cavās	cava
Ablative	cavō	cavā	cavō		cavīs
Vocative	cave	cava	cavum		cavī	cavae	cava

Derived terms

• cava
• cavaedium
• cavea
• caverna
• cavitās
• cavum
• cavāticus
• cavō
• concavus
• multicavus
• recavus
• succavus

 

Related terms

• caveola
• cavernula
• cavernātim
• cavernō
• cavernōsus
• caveālis
• caveātus
• cavālis
• cavāmen
• cavātiō
• cavātor
• cavātus
• cavātūra
• cavōsitās
• concavitās
• concavō
• excavātiō
• excavō
• incavō
• multicavātus
• subtercavātus

 

Noun

cavus m (genitive cavī); second declension

1. Alternative form of cavum.

Inflection

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	cavus	cavī
Genitive	cavī	cavōrum
Dative	cavō	cavīs
Accusative	cavum	cavōs
Ablative	cavō	cavīs
Vocative	cave	cavī

Descendants

Descendants of cavus in other languages

• Aromanian: gavrã
• Catalan: cau, cova, cava
• → English: cave, cavus
• → Esperanto: kavo
• → French: cave, gavon
• → Italian: cavo, cavana
• → Portuguese: cavo, cova
• Romanian: gaură
• → Spanish: cavo

References

• Pokorny, Julius (1959) Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 2, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 592
• “cavus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “cavus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• cavus 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)
• cavus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.