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Webster 1913 Edition
Catacomb
Cat′a-comb
,Noun.
[It.
catacomba
, fr. L. catacumba
perh. from Gr. κατά
downward, down + κύμβη
cavity.] A cave, grotto, or subterraneous place of large extent used for the burial of the dead; – commonly in the plural.
☞ The terms is supposed to have been applied originally to the tombs under the church of St. Sebastian 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 Christians; 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.
Webster 1828 Edition
Catacomb
CATACOMB
,Noun.
Definition 2024
catacomb
catacomb
English
![](http://llc12.www.definify.com/images_main/Catacombes_Paris_FRA_002.jpg)
The catacombs of Paris.
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 subterranean tunnel system used for burying the dead, as in Paris or Ancient Rome.
Translations
underground system of tunnels and chambers with recesses for graves
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