cava

See also: Cava, cavá, cavâ, çava, and ça va

English

Etymology 1

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɑː.və/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːvə

Noun

cava (uncountable)

1. Alternative letter-case form of Cava, a Catalan white sparkling wine.

Etymology 2

Ellipsis of vena cava.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkeɪ.və/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪvə

Noun

cava (plural cavae or cavas)

1. (anatomy) Ellipsis of vena cava.

Derived terms

• caval
• cavogram
• postcava
• praecava

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑv.ə/, /ˈkeɪ.və/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

cava

1. plural of cavum

Etymology 4

Noun

cava (countable and uncountable, plural cavas)

1. Alternative form of kava.

References

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

Anagrams

• AACV, Vaca, vaca

Basque

Etymology

Ultimately from Catalan cava.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kaba/ [ka.β̞a]
• Rhymes: -aba, -a
• Hyphenation: ca‧va

Noun

cava inan

1. Cava (wine)

Declension

Declension of cava (inan a-stem)

	indefinite	singular	plural	proximal plural
absolutive	cava	cava	cavak	cavok
ergative	cavak	cavak	cavek	cavok
dative	cavari	cavari	cavei	cavoi
genitive	cavaren	cavaren	caven	cavon
comitative	cavarekin	cavarekin	cavekin	cavokin
causative	cavarengatik	cavarengatik	cavengatik	cavongatik
benefactive	cavarentzat	cavarentzat	caventzat	cavontzat
instrumental	cavaz	cavaz	cavez	cavotaz
innesive	cavatan	cavan	cavetan	cavotan
locative	cavatako	cavako	cavetako	cavotako
allative	cavatara	cavara	cavetara	cavotara
terminative	cavataraino	cavaraino	cavetaraino	cavotaraino
directive	cavatarantz	cavarantz	cavetarantz	cavotarantz
destinative	cavatarako	cavarako	cavetarako	cavotarako
ablative	cavatatik	cavatik	cavetatik	cavotatik
partitive	cavarik	—	—	—
prolative	cavatzat	—	—	—

Further reading

• “cava”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy] (in Basque), Euskaltzaindia [Royal Academy of the Basque Language]

Catalan

Etymology 1

From Late Latin cava, from Latin cavus (“hollow, concave”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈka.βə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ˈka.və]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈka.va]

Noun

cava f (plural caves)

1. wine cellar
2. cigar box

Noun

cava m (plural caves)

1. cava (wine)

Related terms

• cova

Further reading

• “cava”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “cava”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “cava” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “cava” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Etymology 2

Verb

cava

1. inflection of cavar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Dutch

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkaː.vaː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ca‧va
• Rhymes: -aːvaː

Noun

cava m (plural cava's, diminutive cavaatje n)

1. Cava

Fijian

Pronoun

cava

1. what

Galician

Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese cava (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria): Back-formation from cavar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈkɑβɐ]

Noun

cava f (plural cavas)

1. (viticulture) digging, hoeing the ground
2. mine, excavation

   Synonym: mina

3. (archaic) basement

References

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “cava”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “cava”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “caua”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “cava”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “cava”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “cava”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Etymology 2

Verb

cava

1. inflection of cavar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈka.va/
• Rhymes: -ava
• Hyphenation: cà‧va

Etymology 1

Adjective

cava f sg

1. feminine singular of cavo

Etymology 2

From Late Latin cava, substantivized from Latin cava, the feminine of the adjective cavus.

Noun

cava f (plural cave)

1. quarry, mine

Descendants

• → Serbo-Croatian: (dialectal) ка̑ва / kȃva
• → Chakavian Serbo-Croatian: kȏva

Etymology 3

Verb

cava

1. inflection of cavare:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Anagrams

• vaca

Latin

Pronunciation

• cava:
  • (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈka.wa]
  • (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈkaː.va]
• cavā:
  • (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈka.waː]
  • (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈkaː.va]

Etymology 1

See cavus.

Adjective

cava

1. inflection of cavus:
   1. nominative/vocative feminine singular
   2. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter plural

Adjective

cavā

1. ablative feminine singular of cavus

Etymology 2

Nominalization of cavus, likely by reinterpretation of the plural of the neuter noun cavum as a feminine singular form.

Noun

cava f (genitive cavae); first declension

1. (Late Latin) a hollow, hole, cave, pit, cavern

Inflection

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	cava	cavae
genitive	cavae	cavārum
dative	cavae	cavīs
accusative	cavam	cavās
ablative	cavā	cavīs
vocative	cava	cavae

Descendants

• Asturian: cueva
• Catalan: cava, cova
• → Old French: cave
  • → English: cave
  • French: cave
    • → Portuguese: cave
• Old Galician-Portuguese: cova
  • Galician: cova
  • Portuguese: cova
• Sicilian: cava
• Spanish: cueva
• ⇒ Vulgar Latin: *cavula
  • Aromanian: gavrã
  • Megleno-Romanian: gaură
  • Romanian: gaură

Etymology 3

See cavum.

Noun

cava n

1. nominative/accusative/vocative plural of cavum

Etymology 4

Verb

cavā

1. second-person singular present active imperative of cavō

References

• "cava", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)

Occitan

Pronunciation

• Audio (Béarn):

  (file)

Noun

cava f (plural cavas)

1. cellar

Further reading

• Guilhemjoan, Patric (2005), Diccionari elementari occitan-francés francés-occitan (gascon), Per Noste, →ISBN, page 44.

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈka.vɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈka.vɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈka.va/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈka.vɐ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈka.vɐ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈka.bɐ/ [ˈka.βɐ]

• Rhymes: -avɐ, (Northern Portugal) -abɐ
• Hyphenation: ca‧va

Etymology 1

Either deverbal from cavar, or from Late Latin cava, substantivized from Latin cava, the feminine of the adjective cavus.

Noun

cava f (plural cavas)

1. armhole (hole for the arm in clothing)
2. pit (hole dug in the ground)

   Synonyms: vala, buraco, cavouco

3. ellipsis of veia cava (“large vein”)

Etymology 2

Verb

cava

1. inflection of cavar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Etymology 3

Adjective

cava

1. feminine singular of cavo

Further reading

• “cava”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025
• “cava”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkaba/ [ˈka.β̞a]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aba
• Syllabification: ca‧va

Etymology 1

Derived regressively from the verb cavar.

Noun

cava f (plural cavas)

1. dig

Etymology 2

Inherited from Late Latin cava, substantivized from Latin cava, the feminine of the adjective cavus.

Noun

cava f (plural cavas)

1. cave or cellar where certain kinds of wines are processed
2. in a palace, a dependency where the water and wine drunk by royalty is looked after

Noun

cava m (plural cavas)

1. sparkling wine

   Synonym: vino espumoso

Related terms

• cavar
• caverna
• cavo
• cueva

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

cava

1. inflection of cavar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Etymology 4

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Adjective

cava f

1. feminine singular of cavo

Further reading

• “cava”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024

Anagrams

• vaca