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excavate

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excavate¹

  • /ˈɛk.skə.veɪt/

Where it comes from

First attested in 1599, from Latin excavātus (“hollowed out”), perfect passive participle of excavō (“to hollow out”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from ex (“out”) + cavō (“to hollow out, pierce”), from cavus (“cave, hole”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix). Participial usage up until Early Modern English.

verb excavates · excavating · excavated

  1. transitive To make a hole in (something); to hollow.
  2. transitive To remove part of (something) by scooping or digging it out.
  3. transitive To uncover (something) by digging.

adjective

  1. not comparable, rare, as an adjective Made hollow.
  2. not comparable, obsolete, as a participle excavated, hollowed out

excavate²

Where it comes from

From a substantivization of Latin excavātus through the associated taxon's name (Excavata), see -ate (noun-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more.

noun excavates

  1. Any member of a major grouping of unicellular eukaryotes, of the clade Excavata.

Translations

Every language

verb to make a hole in (something); to hollow

Españolexcavar
Portuguêsescavar
Françaisexcaver

verb to remove part of (something) by scooping or digging it out

Españolexcavar, asotanar
Portuguêsescavar
Tiếng Việtkhai quật

verb to uncover (something) by digging

Tiếng Việtkhai quật

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Cite this
MLA

"excavate." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/excavate. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

excavate. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/excavate

Chicago

"excavate." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/excavate.

BibTeX
@misc{excavate_2026,
  title = {excavate},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/excavate},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}