souterrain
Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- noun An underground chamber or passage sometimes used as a store, especially one associated with Iron Age settlements.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- noun A grotto or cavern under ground; a cellar.
Examples
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Having fled from the king, Ma'aruf discovers a magic "souterrain" and a talismanic seal ring, by the aid of which he attains incalculable wealth.
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He occasionally received similar letters from amateur archaeologists, and expected this dispatch to contain an earnest account of a previously undocumented ringfort or souterrain.
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Hereupon in came the old woman and dragged my brother by his feet to a souterrain and threw him down upon a heap of dead bodies.
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Now when my son saw that I separated them, he secretly built this souterrain and furnished it and transported to it victuals, even as thou seest; and, when I had gone out a-sporting, came here with his sister and hid from me.
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Dating to around the 10th century A.D., the souterrain was probably constructed using the broken megalith as building material.
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The stone was discovered within an early medieval souterrain, an underground structure that may have been used by local inhabitants to defend themselves against Viking raiders, the excavation team reported.
Note
The word 'souterrain' comes from French roots meaning "under" and "ground".
