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Grotto - 5 dictionary results

grot⋅to

[grot-oh]
–noun, plural -toes, -tos.
1. a cave or cavern.
2. an artificial cavernlike recess or structure.

Origin:
1610–20; < It grotta < VL *crupta, for L crypta subterranean passage, chamber. See crypt


grottoed, adjective
grot⋅to⋅like, adjective
grot·to   (grŏt'ō)   
n.   pl. grot·toes or grot·tos
  1. A small cave or cavern.
  2. An artificial structure or excavation made to resemble a cave or cavern.

[Alteration of Italian grotta, from Vulgar Latin *grupta, from Latin crypta, vault; see crypt.]

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.

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."

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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