CATACOMB

catacomb

(noun) an underground tunnel with recesses where bodies were buried (as in ancient Rome)

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

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 tunnel system used for burying the dead, as in Paris or Ancient Rome.

Source: Wiktionary

Cat"a*comb, n. Etym: [It. catacomba, fr. L. catacumba perh. from Gr.

Definition: A cave, grotto, or subterraneous place of large extent used for the burial of the dead; -- commonly in the plural.

Note: The terms is supposed to have been applied originally to the tombs under the church of St. Sebastain in Rome. The most celebrated catacombs are those near Rome, on the Appian Way, supposed to have been the place or refuge and interment of the early Chrictians; those of Egypt, extending for a wide distance in the vicinity of Cairo; and those of Paris, in abandoned stone quarries, excavated under a large portion of the city.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition