spelunca Latin · revision 31858

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero|origins=grc σπῆλυγξ}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [speːˈɫʊŋ.ka]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [speˈluŋ.ka]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''spēlunca''' ''f'' (genitive spēluncae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|grc|σπῆλυγξ|tr=spêlunx|t=cave]], adapted.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Etymonline) Köbler compares [[m|grc|σπήλαιον|tr=spḗlaion|t=cave, grotto]] and [[m|grc|σπέος|tr=spéos|t=cave]].^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler's first source is Cicero,^(Köbler 2010) who has “Philoctetes has now been lying in his cave for ten years”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a cave, cavern or grotto, also an animal's den.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Döderlein distinguishes it from [[specus]] and [[caverna]], hollows below or level with the ground: ''spelunca'' is a cavity with an opening leading into a mountain, thought of physically, for its darkness and dread, while [[antrum]] is a grotto seen as beautiful and cool.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ Church Latin glosses it “cave, den, lair”.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of Philoctetes' cave.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * late 14th century – Borrowed into English as [[m|en|spelunk]] “cave”, partly through Old French.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|cave]], [[m|en|cavern]], [[m|en|grotto]]; a den.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[speluncosus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[specus]]

+ * [[antrum]]

+ * [[en|spelunk]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}