grotto

grotto
grottoed, adj.grottolike, adj.
/grot"oh/, n., pl. grottoes, grottos.
1. a cave or cavern.
2. an artificial cavernlike recess or structure.
[1610-20; < It grotta < VL *crupta, for L crypta subterranean passage, chamber. See CRYPT]

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cave
      natural or artificial cave used as a decorative feature in 18th-century European gardens. Grottoes derived from natural caves were regarded in antiquity as dwelling places of divinities. Grottoes were often constructed from a fanciful arrangement of rocks, shells, bones, broken glass, and other strangely assorted objects and were commonly associated with water (see nymphaeum).

      Well-known garden grottoes were the Grotto of Thetis at Versailles, Fr., Alexander Pope's grotto at Twickenham, Middlesex, Eng. (now part of Greater London), and the grotto at Stourhead, Wiltshire, Eng.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Grotto — Morchino, Pazzallo Lugano, in Hermann Hesses Novelle Klingsors letzter Sommer von 1919 erwähnt Als Grotto bezeichnet man in der italienischen Schweiz (Kanton Tessin) ein rustikales Lokal mit grosszügig angelegtem Restaurationsbereich im Freien… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • grotto — grot to (gr[o^]t t[ o]), n.; pl. {Grottoes} (gr[o^]t t[=o]z). [Formerly grotta, fr. It. grotta, LL. grupta, fr. L. crypta a concealed subterranean passage, vault, cavern, Gr. kry pth, fr. krypto s concealed, fr. kry ptein to conceal. Cf. {Grot},… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Grotto — Grotto, falsche Schreibweise für Luigi Groto (s. d.) …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • grotto — / grɔt:o/ s.m. [da grotta ]. 1. (non com.) [luogo scosceso] ▶◀ dirupo. ‖ abisso, anfratto, baratro, burrone, precipizio, strapiombo. 2. (estens., region.) [luogo in cui si vende e si beve vino] ▶◀ cantina, osteria …   Enciclopedia Italiana

  • grotto — 1610s, from It. grotta, ultimately from L. crypta vault, cavern, from Gk. krypte hidden place (see CRYPT (Cf. crypt)). Terminal o may be from its being spelled that way in many translations of Dante s Divine Comedy …   Etymology dictionary

  • grotto — has the plural form grottoes …   Modern English usage

  • grotto — [n] cave antre, cavern, cavity, chamber, den, hollow, rock shelter, subterrane, underground chamber; concept 509 …   New thesaurus

  • grotto — ► NOUN (pl. grottoes or grottos) ▪ a small picturesque cave, especially an artificial one in a park or garden. ORIGIN Italian grotta, from Greek krupt vault …   English terms dictionary

  • grotto — [grät′ō] n. pl. grottoes or grottos [It grotta < ML grupta < VL crupta, for L crypta, CRYPT] 1. a cave 2. a cavelike summerhouse, shrine, etc …   English World dictionary

  • Grotto — For other uses, see Grotto (disambiguation). A Marian grotto in Bischofferode (Germany) A grotto (Italian grotta and French grotte ) is any type of natural or artificial cave that is associated with modern, historic or prehistoric use by humans.… …   Wikipedia

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