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Grotto - 5 dictionary results
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To Grotto
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Grotto
Grot"to\, n.; pl. Grottoes. [Formerly grotta, fr. It. grotta, LL. grupta, fr. L. crypta a con cealed subterranran passage vault, cavern, Gr. ?, fr. ? concealed, fr. ? to conceal. Cf. Grot, Crypt.] A natural covered opening in the earth; a cave; also, an artificial recess, cave, or cavernlike apartment.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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grotto
1617, from It. grotta, ult. from L. crypta "vault, cavern," from Gk. krypte "hidden place" (see crypt). Terminal -o may be from its being spelled that way in many translations of Dante's "Divine Comedy."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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grotto
natural or artificial cave used as a decorative feature in 18th-century European gardens. Grottoes derived from natural caves were regarded in antiquity as dwelling places of divinities. Grottoes were often constructed from a fanciful arrangement of rocks, shells, bones, broken glass, and other strangely assorted objects and were commonly associated with water (see nymphaeum).
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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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