grotto
/ˈɡɹɑ.toʊ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.90 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An artificial cavern-like retreat.
noun
A local organization of cavers that typically organizes trips to caves and provides information and training for caving; a caving club.
noun
A secretive name for a local group of underground Satanists.
noun
A garden or roadside shrine with a small cave containing a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary (usually Our Lady of Lourdes and sometimes paired with a water feature)
Example Sentences
- "...But, while we are waiting for the temple, can you not show us the altar?—we want to see your grotto." Pope desired nothing better than to show his new toy, and led the way to the pretty and fanciful cave, which was but just finished."
- "An earlier attempt to organize a grotto in the Indiana, PA, area in the mid-1970s failed to succeed, but from it developed the informal Chestnut Ridge Explorers Association."
- "By the mid-1940s members of local grottos (regional clubs of cavers within the National Speleological Society) were exploring Porcupine Cave (Bloch, 1946)."
- "The answer to the question, “Are there any caves in Arizona?” was always the laconic “None to speak of,” with emphasis on the “to speak of.” This secrecy dovetailed with the cave conservation ethic promoted by the local caving grotto."
Etymology
From Italian grotta, from Vulgar Latin grupta, from Classical Latin crypta. Doublet of crypt. The Philippine sense is from the holy cave in Lourdes, France.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: grotta, grupta, crypta
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈɡɹɑ.toʊ/
- British English: /ˈɡɹɒt.əʊ/