different between catacomb vs tomb

English

Etymology

From Old English [Term?], from Late Latin catacumbas, name of the underground cemetery of St. Sebastian in Rome, dissimilation of Latin cata- (“among”) (from Ancient Greek ???? (katá, “under”)) + tumbas (from Ancient Greek ?????? (túmbos, “swell”)).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?kat??k??m/ (less commonly) IPA^(key): /?kat?ku?m/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?kætako?m/, /?kæt?ku?m/

Noun

catacomb (plural catacombs)

1. (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.

Translations

English

Etymology

From Middle English tombe, toumbe, borrowed from Old French tombe, from Latin tumba from Ancient Greek ?????? (túmbos, “a sepulchral mound, tomb, grave”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *tewh?- (“to swell”).

The verb is from Middle English tomben.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /tu?m/?
• (US) IPA^(key): /tum/
• Rhymes: -u?m

Noun

tomb (plural tombs)

1. A small building (or "vault") for the remains of the dead, with walls, a roof, and (if it is to be used for more than one corpse) a door. It may be partly or wholly in the ground (except for its entrance) in a cemetery, or it may be inside a church proper or in its crypt. Single tombs may be permanently sealed; those for families (or other groups) have doors for access whenever needed.
2. A pit in which the dead body of a human being is deposited; a grave.
3. One who keeps secrets.
   • 1912 Constance Garnett (tr.), Fyodor Dostoyevsky The Brothers Karamazov (1880) Book III, chapter 4

     I never told anyone about it. You're the first, except Ivan, of course—Ivan knows everything. He knew about it long before you. But Ivan's a tomb.

Derived terms

• disentomb
• entomb
• tombstone

Descendants

• ? Irish: tuama
• ? Maori: toma

Translations

Verb

tomb (third-person singular simple present tombs, present participle tombing, simple past and past participle tombed)

1. (transitive) To bury.

Catalan

Etymology

From tombar.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Valencian) IPA^(key): /?tomp/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /?tom/
• Homophone: tom (Central)

Noun

tomb m (plural tombs)

1. turn (change of direction)
2. turn, twist (movement around an axis)
3. turn (change of temperament or circumstance)
4. walk, stroll

Derived terms

• venir a tomb

Further reading

• “tomb” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Middle English

Noun

tomb (plural tombes)

1. Alternative form of tombe (“tomb”)