grotto
pronunciation
How to pronounce grotto in British English:
UK [ˈgrɒtəʊ]
How to pronounce grotto in American English:
US [ˈgrɑtoʊ]
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- Noun:
- a small cave (usually with attractive features)
Word Origin
- grotto
- grotto: [17] Grotto and crypt are ultimately the same word. The source of both was Greek krúptē, originally ‘hidden place’, hence ‘vault’. English acquired crypt directly from krúptē’s Latin descendant, crypta, but grotto came via a more circuitous route. Crypta became *crupta or *grupta in Vulgar Latin, and this produced Italian grotta, later grotto. French borrowed it as grotte, and the earliest English form, the now obsolete grot [16], came from French, but in the 17th century the Italian version of the word established itself.=> crypt, grotesque
- grotto (n.)
- "picturesque cavern or cave," 1610s, from Italian grotta, earlier cropta, a corruption of Latin crypta "vault, cavern," from Greek krypte "hidden place" (see crypt). Terminal -o may be from its being spelled that way in many translations of Dante's "Divine Comedy."
Example
- 1. The sound of dripping water is always heard in this grotto .
- 2. The last one is called " tower grotto " as it is situated higher than the other .
- 3. Most of the big stores have a santa 's grotto in the weeks before christmas .
- 4. He had lost all hope of detecting the secret of the grotto ;
- 5. Japan into china , and actively seek the bobcats into resistance down by bandits thief chief but polite in stealing grotto grounds obstruct .