grotto
UK /ˈɡɹɒt.əʊ/ · US /ˈɡɹɑ.toʊ/ noun
Forms grottos grottoes
- noun A small cave.
- noun An artificial cavern-like retreat.
- noun A Marian shrine, usually built in a cavern-like structure.
- noun A local organization of cavers that typically organizes trips to caves and provides information and training for caving; a caving club.
- noun (Satanism) A secretive name for a local group of underground Satanists.
- noun (Philippines) A garden or roadside shrine with a small cave containing a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary (usually Our Lady of Lourdes and sometimes paired with a water feature)
Synonyms
Etymology
From Italian grotta, from Vulgar Latin grupta, from Classical Latin crypta. Doublet of crypt.
The Philippine sense is from the holy cave in Lourdes, France.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A natural covered opening in the earth; a cave; also, an artificial recess, cave, or cavernlike apartment.
Etymology [Formerly grotta, fr. It. grotta, LL. grupta, fr. L. crypta a con cealed subterranran passage vault, cavern, Gr. Grot, Crypt.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “grotto”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details