catacomb

English

The catacombs of Paris.

Etymology

From Old English, from Late Latin catacumbas, name of the underground cemetery of St. Sebastian in Rome, dissimilation of Latin cata- (“among”) (from Ancient Greek κατά (katá, “under”)) + tumbas.

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkatəˌkəʊm/ (less commonly) IPA^(key): /ˈkatəkuːm/
(US) IPA^(key): /ˈkætakoʊm/, /ˈkætəkuːm/

Noun

catacomb (plural catacombs)

(often plural) An underground system of tunnels and chambers with recesses for graves, used (in former times) as a cemetery; a subterranean tunnel system used for burying the dead, as in Paris or Ancient Rome.

Translations

underground system of tunnels and chambers with recesses for graves

Basque: katakonba
Catalan: catacumba (ca) f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 地下墓穴 (dìxià mùxué)
Czech: katakomby f pl
Danish: katakombe (da) c
Dutch: catacombe (nl)
Esperanto: katakombo
Estonian: katakomb
Finnish: katakombi (fi)
French: catacombe (fr) f
Galician: catacumba (gl) f
German: Katakombe (de) f
Greek: κατακόμβη (el) f (katakómvi)

Hungarian: katakomba (hu)
Indonesian: katakombe
Italian: catacomba (it) f
Japanese: カタコンベ (katakonbe)
Norwegian: katakombe
Polish: katakumba f
Portuguese: catacumba (pt) f
Romanian: catacombă (ro) f
Russian: катако́мба (ru) f (katakómba) (usually plural)
Serbo-Croatian:
Roman: katakombe (sh)
Spanish: catacumba
Swedish: katakomb (sv)
Tagalog: katakumbas