cavity

English

Etymology

Mid 16th century borrowing from Middle French cavité or Late Latin cavitās, from cavus (“hollow, excavated, concave”) +‎ -tās (“-ity”, nominal suffix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkæv.ɪt.i/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

  • IPA^(key): [ˈkʰæv.ɨɾ.i]
• Rhymes: -ævɪti

Noun

cavity (plural cavities)

1. (fluid dynamics) The formation, in a fluid, of vapor bubbles that rapidly collapse, especially in a rotating marine propeller or pump impeller.
2. A hole or hollow depression in a solid object.

   Hyponyms: microcavity, minicavity, nanocavity

   1. (anatomy) A hollow area within the body.

      Hyponyms: abdominal cavity, body cavity, buccal cavity, chest cavity, endocavity, exocoelomic cavity, haemal cavity, nasal cavity, oral cavity, orbital cavity, pleural cavity, thoracic cavity, tympanic cavity

3. (dentistry) A small or large hole in a tooth caused by caries; often also a soft area adjacent to the hole also affected by caries.

   Synonym: caries

   Jim got two cavities filled at the dentist's office yesterday.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:hole

Derived terms

• anticavity
• cavitand
• cavitation
• cavitied
• cavityless
• intracavity, intracavital
• multicavity
• subcavity

 

Compound words and expressions

• body cavity search
• cavity quantum electrodynamics
• cavity resonator
• cavity wall
• cotyloid cavity
• microwave resonant cavity thruster

 

Related terms

• cave
• cavitary
• cavitate
• concave
• excavate, excavation, excavator

 

Translations

hole or hollow depression

• Armenian: խորշ (hy) (xorš)
• Bashkir: соҡор (soqor)
• Bulgarian: дупка (bg) f (dupka), вдлъбнатина (bg) f (vdlǎbnatina)
• Catalan: cavitat (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 孔穴 (zh) (kǒngxué, (Taiwan) kǒngxuè), 空腔 (zh) (kōngqiāng)

• Czech: dutina (cs) f
• Egyptian: (qrrt f)
• Galician: cavidade (gl) f
• German: Hohlraum (de), Gravur (de), Aushöhlung, Loch (de)
• Greek: τρύπα (el) n (trýpa)

  Ancient: κοίλωμα n (koílōma)

• Hebrew: חור (he) m (khor)
• Hungarian: üreg (hu), odú (hu), lyuk (hu), mélyedés (hu)
• Italian: cavità (it) f, alveolo (it) m, incavo (it) m
• Japanese: 空洞 (ja) (くうどう, kūdō)
• Latgalian: dūbs
• Latin: lacūna (la) f
• Latvian: dobums m
• Manx: towl m
• Maori: pakohu, arearenga
• Plautdietsch: Hollinj f
• Polish: wydrążenie n, dziura (pl) f
• Portuguese: cavidade (pt)
• Romanian: cavitate (ro) f, gaură (ro) f
• Russian: впа́дина (ru) f (vpádina), дыра́ (ru) f (dyrá), я́ма (ru) f (jáma)
• Spanish: cavidad (es) f
• Volapük: kev (vo)
• Welsh: ceudod (cy) m or f

hollow area within the body

• Afrikaans: holte, liggaamsholte
• Armenian: խոռոչ (hy) (xoṙočʻ)
• Azerbaijani: boşluq (az)
• Bashkir: ҡыуыш (qıwış)
• Bulgarian: кухина (bg) f (kuhina)
• Catalan: cavitat (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 腔 (zh) (qiāng)

• Czech: dutina (cs) f
• German: Höhle (de) f, Hohlraum (de) m
• Greek: κοιλότητα (el) f (koilótita)

  Ancient: νηδύς f (nēdús)

• Hebrew: חָלָל (he) m (ḥalál)
• Hungarian: üreg (hu), testüreg (hu)
• Irish: cuas m, cuasán m
• Italian: cavità (it) f
• Japanese: 腔 (ja) (こう, kō)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: kelên (ku) f

• Latin: cavea f
• Latvian: dobums m
• Portuguese: cavidade (pt) f
• Russian: по́лость (ru) f (pólostʹ)
• Spanish: cavidad (es) f
• Volapük: kevil
• Welsh: ceudod (cy) m or f

hole and soft area in tooth caused by caries

• Bulgarian: кариес m (karies)
• Catalan: càries (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 蟲牙／虫牙 (zh) (chóngyá)

• Dutch: gaatje (nl), gat (nl)
• Esperanto: kario
• Finnish: hammasreikä, reikä (fi), karies (fi), hammasmätä (fi)
• French: carie (fr) f
• German: Karies (de) f, Loch (de) n (colloquial)
• Greek: κουφάλα (el) f (koufála)

  Ancient: βρῶμα n (brôma)

• Hebrew: עַשֶּׁשֶׁת (he) f ('ashéshet)
• Hungarian: lyuk (hu), foglyuk
• Inuktitut: ᐊᐅᓂᖅ (aoniq)
• Italian: carie (it) f
• Japanese: 虫歯 (ja) (mushiba)
• Kapampangan: busbus ipan
• Malay: kaviti
• Malayalam: പോട് (ml) (pōṭŭ)
• Polish: ubytek (pl) m
• Portuguese: cárie (pt) f
• Russian: ка́риес (ru) m (kárijes)
• Spanish: caries (es) f
• Swedish: karies (sv), tandröta (sv), hål (sv) n

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Japanese: ^{(please verify)} 虫歯 (ja) (mushiba)
• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 굿 (ko) (gut)

References

• “cavity”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “cavity”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Further reading

• “cavity”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “cavity”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “cavity”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.