Etymology

excavation

ex·ca·va·tion
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Today it means: The act of excavating, or of making hollow, by cutting, scooping, or digging out a part of a solid mass. Full definition →

Latin excavātiō ← Proto-Indo-European *ḱewh₁-
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*ḱewh₁-“vault, hole”
  2. Latin · borrowed fromexcavātiō“a hollowing out”
  3. English todayexcavation

From Latin excavātiō (“a hollowing out”), from excavō (“to hollow out”), from ex + cavō (“to hollow out”), from cavus (“hollow”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewh₁- (“vault, hole”). Equivalent to excavate + -ion.

Words from the same roots

Proto-Indo-European*ḱewh₁- all →

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Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.