Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A subterranean chamber of an ancient building.
- noun An ancient subterranean burial chamber, such as a catacomb.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In architecture, that part of a building which is below the level of the ground, including cellars, vaults, etc.; also, any underground construction, chamber, etc., as the syringes of ancient Egypt, or the tombs of the Etruscans. Also
hypogee .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Anc. Arch.) The subterraneous portion of a building, as in amphitheaters, for the service of the games; also, subterranean galleries, as the catacombs.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun An
underground room orcavern (also used figuratively).
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The only important hypogeum which is wholly Jewish in its arrangement, and may consequently belong to an earlier or to any epoch, is that known as the tombs of the prophets, in the western flank of the Mount of Olives.
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Before the amazed eyes of the congregation, a cascade of white petals descends from the coffered ceiling, blanketing the hypogeum.
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Then the great doors of lapis lazuli and silver at the most distant end of the Hypogeum Amaranthine -- doors used in my reign only for solemn processions and the ceremonial presentations of extern ambassadors -- were flung wide; and this time it was not a lone officer who burst into the hypogeum but two score troopers, each brandishing a fusil or a blazing spear.
The Urth of the New Sun Wolfe, Gene 1987
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To be the steward of an entire hypogeum, and particularly, as I was in my youth, to be steward of my Hypogeum Apotropaic in the time of Father Inire, requires the most unremitting effort; one has hardly a watch in which to sleep.
The Urth of the New Sun Wolfe, Gene 1987
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In the Roman necropolis, along the Kairwan road, several interesting discoveries were made, among them a hypogeum containing several frescoes in fair preservation, containing curious figures and inscriptions, and also some inscriptions on marble or stucco.
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Upon the door of the hypogeum, which still remains, is the following inscription in marble: --
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 4: Clandestinity-Diocesan Chancery 1840-1916 1913
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It is in this room that the remarkable nature of the work in the hypogeum is most apparent.
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The finest instance of this is the Halsaflieni hypogeum in Malta, where the solid rock is hewn out with infinite care to imitate the form and even the details of surface building.
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Nor has he failed in his intention, for, as one moves from room to room in the hypogeum, one certainly has the feeling of being in a building constructed of separate blocks and not merely cut in the solid rock.
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In two of the largest chambers in the hypogeum the roof and walls are still decorated with designs in red paint.
pavonine commented on the word hypogeum
n. pl. hy·po·ge·a (-j)
1. A subterranean chamber of an ancient building.
2. An ancient subterranean burial chamber, such as a catacomb
December 16, 2007
qms commented on the word hypogeum
A cavegirl no doubt in the past,
Assessing each caveguy who asked,
Assigned a high premium
To a dry hypogeum
And love, if considered, came last.
April 14, 2016