different between excavation vs excavate

English

Etymology

From Latin excav?ti? (“a hollowing out”), from excav? (“I hollow out”), from ex + cav? (“I hollow out”), from cavus (“hollow”), from Proto-Indo-European *keu- (“vault, hole”).

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -e???n

Noun

excavation (countable and uncountable, plural excavations)

1. (uncountable) The act of excavating, or of making hollow, by cutting, scooping, or digging out a part of a solid mass.
2. (countable) A cavity formed by cutting, digging, or scooping.
3. (countable) An uncovered cutting in the earth, in distinction from a covered cutting or tunnel.
4. (countable) The material dug out in making a channel or cavity.
5. (uncountable) Archaeological research that unearths buildings, tombs and objects of historical value.
6. (countable) A site where an archaeological exploration is being carried out.

Translations

French

Pronunciation

Noun

excavation f (plural excavations)

1. excavation

Further reading

• “excavation” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

English

Etymology 1

Known since 1599, from Latin excav?tus (“hollowed out”), perfect passive participle of excav? (“hollow out”), from ex (“out”) + cav? (“make a hole”), from cavus (“cave, hole”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??k.sk?.ve?t/

Verb

excavate (third-person singular simple present excavates, present participle excavating, simple past and past participle excavated)

1. (transitive) To make a hole in (something); to hollow.
2. (transitive) To remove part of (something) by scooping or digging it out.
3. (transitive) To uncover (something) by digging.

Related terms

• excavation
• excavator

Translations

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

excavate (plural excavates)

1. (zoology) Any member of a major grouping of unicellular eukaryotes, of the clade Excavata.

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “excavate”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Latin

Verb

excav?te

1. second-person plural present active imperative of excav?