excavation

From Latin excavātiō (“a hollowing out”), from excavō (“I hollow out”), from ex + cavō (“I hollow out”), from cavus (“hollow”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewh₁- (“vault, hole”).

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• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

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.
   • 1924 March, E. J. Garwood, “Himalayan Glaciation”, in The Geographical Journal‎, volume LXIII, number 3, London: Royal Geographic Society, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 244:

     Prof. Dainelli made a personal study of the lakes of the Upper Indus lying between its confluence with the Gilgit on the west and the plains of Kashmir on the east. From this district he cites fifty lakes and groups of lakes. Many of these are moraine-dammed, but some of the larger ones, as the Satpor Tso, the Tso Moriri, the Chiun Tso, and the group of lakes associated with the Pángong Tso, he considers to have originated by glacial excavation.

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.
7. (countable) Something uncovered by archaeological excavation.
   • 1990, Wayne Jancik, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, →ISBN, page 392:

     To date, [Taco's 1982 cover of Irving Berlin's 1935] "Cheek To Cheek" and similar auditory excavations have fared poorly.

• IPA^(key): /ɛk.ska.va.sjɔ̃/

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excavation f (plural excavations)

1. excavation

• “excavation”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.