cuniculus

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin cunīculus.

Noun

cuniculus (plural cuniculi)

1. a burrow or low underground passage
2. a burrow in the skin made by a mite

Alternative forms

• *cuniclus (Vulgar Latin)

Etymology

From Ancient Greek κόνικλος (kóniklos), probably of Iberian or Celtiberian origin; compare Basque untxi (“rabbit”), Mozarabic conchair (“greyhound”). The original meaning “burrow” adapted to the rabbit or vice versa.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /kuˈniː.ku.lus/, [kʊˈniː.kʊ.ɫʊs]

Noun

cunīculus m (genitive cunīculī); second declension

1. rabbit
2. rabbit burrow
3. mine, subterranean tunnel or gallery
   • 2015, Tuomo Pekkanen, Numerus fugitivorum in dies crescit. , Nuntii Latini 7.8.2015:

     Greges migratorum, qui diversis viis ex Africa vel Asia in Europam venerunt, in proximitatem urbis Caleti (Calais) convenerunt, unde brevissima est in Britanniam per cuniculum traiectio.

     Groups of migrants, coming into Europe by various routes from Africa and Asia, came together near the city of Calais, where it is but a brief passage to Britain through the tunnel.

References

• cuniculus in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• cuniculus in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• cuniculus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• cuniculus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to make mines, subterraneous passages: cuniculos agere (B. G. 3. 21)
    
• cuniculus in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• cuniculus in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin