cavity
[ˈkʰæv.ɨɾ.i] noun
Forms cavities
- noun (anatomy) A hollow area within the body.
- noun (engineering, manufacturing) The female part of a mold: the depression itself or (metonymically) the half of the mold that contains it.
- noun (dentistry) A small or large hole in a tooth caused by caries; often also a soft area adjacent to the hole also affected by caries. “Jim got two cavities filled at the dentist's office yesterday.”
Synonyms
caries pit enclosed space dental caries tooth decay bodily cavity cavum
Etymology
From Middle French cavité or Late Latin cavitās, from cav(i) (“hollow, excavated, concave”) + -tās (“-ity”, nominal suffix). First attested in the Mid-16th c.
Webster’s 1913
Etymology [L. cavus hollow: cf. F. cavité.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “cavity”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details