cavity

English

Etymology

From Middle English cavity, from Middle French cavité, from Late Latin cavitas, from Latin cavus (“hollow”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkævɪti/
  • IPA^(key): [ˈkʰævɪɾi]

Noun

cavity (plural cavities)

1. A hole or hollow depression.
2. A hollow area within the body (such as the sinuses).
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.

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

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:hole
• (dentistry): caries

Derived terms

• buccal cavity
• cavity back
• cavity batten
• cavity coupling
• cavity fill
• cavity filter
• cavity impedence
• cavity magnetron

• cavity oscillator
• cavity radiator
• cavity resonance
• cavity tray
• cavity tuning
• cavity vent
• cavity wall
• oral cavity

Related terms

• cave
• 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), 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)

• Hungarian: üreg (hu), odú (hu), lyuk (hu), mélyedés (hu)
• Italian: cavità (it) f, alveolo (it) m, incavo (it) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• 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)

hollow area within the body

• Armenian: խոռոչ (hy) (xoṙočʻ)
• Azerbaijani: boşluq (az)
• Bashkir: ҡыуыш (qıwış)
• Bulgarian: кухина (bg) f (kuhina)
• Catalan: cavitat (ca) f
• Czech: dutina (cs) f
• German: Höhle (de) f, Hohlraum (de) m
• Greek: κοιλότητα (el) f (koilótita)
• Hebrew: חָלָל (he) m (ḥalál)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: üreg (hu), testüreg
• 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

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), 虫牙 (zh) (chóngyá)

• 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)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: lyuk (hu), foglyuk
• Inuktitut: ᐊᐅᓂᖅ (aoniq)
• Italian: carie (it) f
• Japanese: 虫歯 (ja) (mushiba)
• Kapampangan: busbus ipan
• Malay: kaviti
• 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

• (deprecated template usage) Japanese: ^{(please verify)} 虫歯 (ja) (mushiba)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• (deprecated template usage) Korean: ^{(please verify)} 굿 (ko) (gut) (gus, gut)

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.