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cave

Etymology and origin of the French word cave

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Latin cavus
French cave
Latin cavo

Two words cave come from Latin cavus (“hollow”): the cellar, borrowed from its late Latin feminine noun, and the learned adjective “hollow”.[1][2][3]

cave1 cellar

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1170
Borrowed from
Latin cava
Ultimate origin
Latin (cavus)

Pronunciation

Forms

cave f (plural caves)[4]

Etymology

The cellar is borrowed from Late Latin cava (“ditch”) (6th century), the feminine noun formed from the neuter plural cava (“hollows”) of the adjective cavus (“hollow”).[1][2][3] Medieval Latin used the form cavea for a storeroom (1058), a mine shaft and a box.[1] Cognate with Picard gove, Old Occitan cava, Spanish cava and Italian cava.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is recorded about 1170 for a hole or cave; the Books of Kings have Saul enter une cave grande to rest.[3][6][5]

Semantic evolution

The general sense “hollow, cave” and the sense “burial vault”, usual until the 16th century, gave way to caverne, cavité and caveau.[1] The word narrowed to the underground room where provisions and wine are kept (about 1250, uncertainly; 1360–1370); in Canadian French it names any basement room (cave à patates).[1][6] By analogy it named a case for wines and liqueurs (1669), and by metonymy the stock of wines in a cellar (1798).[1][6] After the Liberation (1945) it named a cellar fitted out as a nightclub, at first in Paris.[1][7]

Timeline

  • c. 1170 – “Hole, cave”.[3][6]
  • c. 1250 – An underground storeroom.[3][1]
  • 1669 – Cave à liqueurs.[6][1]
  • 1798 – The wines kept in a cellar.[1]
  • 1945 – A cellar nightclub.[1]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A cellar, an underground room under a house: cave voûtée, de la cave au grenier, from top to bottom.[6][8]
  2. A wine cellar, and the wines kept in it: avoir du vin en cave, la cave d'un restaurant.[6][8]
  3. A cabinet or appliance for keeping wine, cave à liqueurs, cave à cigares, a case for liqueurs or cigars.[7][6]
  4. A nightclub in a cellar.[7][1]
  5. (Canada) A basement.[1]

Word family

  • caveau
  • caviste
  • encaver

cave2 hollow

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1170
Borrowed from
Latin cavus
Ultimate origin
Latin (cavus)

Pronunciation

Forms

cave (plural caves)[4]

Etymology

The adjective is borrowed from Latin cavus (“hollow”), a word in use throughout Latin and compared with Greek words for hollows and cavities.[1][9][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from about 1170;[9][1] yeux caves, sunken eyes, are recorded in the 14th century.[9][1]

Semantic evolution

The word is hardly used except of parts of the body, and in anatomy in veine cave (Robert Estienne, 1538).[1][9] Astronomers used it for a lunar month or year that is not full: année cave, mois cave (1708), lune cave (1751).[9][10]

Timeline

  • c. 1170 – First recorded.[9][3]
  • 14th century – Yeux caves.[1]
  • 1538 – Veine cave.[9]
  • 1708 – Année cave, mois cave.[9]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (literary) Hollow, sunken: joues caves, yeux caves.[9][6]
  2. (anatomy) Veine cave: the vena cava, each of the two great veins bringing blood to the heart.[6][10]
  3. (astronomy, old) Of a lunar month or year, not full.[9][10]

Usage notes

In slang un cave (about 1882) is a dupe, and then someone who is not part of the underworld; the GLLF derives it from cavé, the past participle of caver, a gambling term, which also meant “to cheat”.[10][9][7] In Quebec it is a familiar word for a fool.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  2. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  3. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  5. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  8. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  10. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Cave.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/cave. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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