excavate

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ˈɛkskəˌveɪt/ UK /ˈɛkskəveɪt/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to dig out and remove earth, or to uncover by digging

Archaeologists hoped to excavate the temple's buried foundations.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to dig out and remove... dig unearth hollow quarry mine scoop gouge

Opposites

fill bury

Word family

Derived forms excavation excavator

Related forms cave cavity cavern

Simplified etymology

Excavate, recorded from the late 16th century, derives from Latin cavus, “hollow.” Its origin connects the verb with cave, cavern, and cavity.

Etymology

From Latin excavatus, past participle of excavare ('to hollow out'), from ex- ('out') + cavare ('to hollow'), from cavus ('hollow').

excavare Latin cavus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# excavate

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈɛkskəˌveɪt/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈɛkskəveɪt/

## Meanings
1. to dig out and remove earth, or to uncover by digging

## Examples
- Archaeologists hoped to excavate the temple's buried foundations.

## Synonyms
- dig
- unearth
- hollow
- quarry
- mine
- scoop
- gouge

## Antonyms
- fill
- bury

## Derived Forms
- excavation
- excavator

## Related Forms
- cave
- cavity
- cavern

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: excavare
- Root: cavus

## Etymology
From Latin excavatus, past participle of excavare ('to hollow out'), from ex- ('out') + cavare ('to hollow'), from cavus ('hollow').

## AI Etymology
Excavate comes from Latin excavatus, past participle of excavare ('to hollow out'), from ex- ('out') + cavare ('to hollow'), from cavus ('hollow'). Morphologically, the form is compositional: ex- marks part of the visible structure, while the remaining element supplies the lexical base. In present use, it is used as a verb meaning "to dig out and remove earth, or to uncover by digging", so the historical material remains connected with the current sense rather than standing as bare ancestry. The wider English family includes derivatives such as excavation and excavator and related forms such as cave, cavity, and cavern, showing how the same historical material continues to organize neighboring vocabulary. The named historical forms include Latin excavare and Latin cavus, keeping the history tied to concrete forms rather than a loose resemblance. Its semantic neighborhood is marked by dig, unearth, hollow, and quarry on one side and contrasts such as fill and bury on the other, locating the modern specialization without adding a new origin story.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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