Etymology Explorer › Latin

Where does “spelunca” come from?

spelunca (Latin) comes from Ancient Greek σπῆλυγξ, from Ancient Greek σπέος — cave, cavern, grotto.

Ancestry of “spelunca”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Ancient Greekσπῆλυγξcave
2Ancient Greekσπέοςcave, cavern, grotto
Every word from Ancient Greek σπέος →