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LATIN · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

cavus.

hole, cavity, depression, pit, opening; cave, burrow; enclosed space; aperture;

5 characters2 syllables approx.Latina language

Meaning & usage

adj[ˈka.wʊs]Classical-Latin[ˈkaː.vus]

  1. hollow, hollowed out, cavernous, concave

    adjective · declension-1 · declension-2

  2. excavated, channeled

    adjective · declension-1 · declension-2

  3. vain, empty

    adjective · declension-1 · declension-2
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱewh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *ḱowh₁ós? Proto-Italic *kawos Latin cavus Inherited from Proto-Italic *kawos, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *ḱowh₁ós (“hollow”), from *ḱewh₁- (“to swell”) + *-ós. Related to Persian کاو (“hollow”), Old Irish cúas (“hollow, cavity”), Tocharian B kor (“throat”), Albanian cup (“odd, uneven”), Ancient Greek κῠ́ᾰρ (kŭ́ăr, “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”).

noun[ˈka.wʊs]Classical-Latin[ˈkaː.vus]

  1. alternative form of cavum

    alt-of · alternative · declension-2 · masculine
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱewh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *ḱowh₁ós? Proto-Italic *kawos Latin cavus Inherited from Proto-Italic *kawos, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *ḱowh₁ós (“hollow”), from *ḱewh₁- (“to swell”) + *-ós. Related to Persian کاو (“hollow”), Old Irish cúas (“hollow, cavity”), Tocharian B kor (“throat”), Albanian cup (“odd, uneven”), Ancient Greek κῠ́ᾰρ (kŭ́ăr, “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”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.