cavernous

The story

1. Latin · derived fromcavernōsus“full of hollows or cavities”
2. Old French · derived fromcaverneux
3. Middle English · inherited fromcavernous
4. English todaycavernous

Late Middle English cavernous, cavernose, borrowing from Old French caverneux or Latin cavernōsus (“full of hollows or cavities”), from caverna (“a hollow, cavity, cave”) + -ōsus (“-ous, -ose”, adjectival suffix); equivalent to cavern + -ous.

Words from the same roots