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catacomb

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catacomb


  2  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Catacomb  \Cat"a*comb\,  n.  [It.  catacomba,  fr  L.  catacumba  perh. 
  from  Gr  kata`  downward,  down  +  ky`mbh  cavity.] 
  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  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. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  catacomb 
  n  :  an  underground  tunnel  with  recesses  where  bodies  were  buried 
  (as  in  ancient  Rome) 




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