Cavities

How to spell cavities

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce cavities

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does cavities mean?

1. nounEmpty or hollow spaces enclosed within a solid body or structure.
2. nounDecayed holes that form in teeth as a result of plaque and acid.

Cavities in a sentence

• The survey revealed small cavities hidden inside the old stone wall.

• The dentist found two cavities during the routine checkup.

• Air can collect in the cavities behind the plaster.

• Regular brushing helps prevent cavities in children.

Where does cavities come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin adjective cavus, which literally meant 'hollow' or 'empty'. From it came the late Latin noun cavitas, describing a hollow space, and that passed into English through French as 'cavity' during the 1500s, first in medical and anatomical writing. The plural simply adds the regular -ies ending, since a singular noun finishing in a consonant plus -y swaps the y for -ies. The same hollow root sits inside familiar relatives such as 'cave', 'cavern', 'concave', and 'excavate', all of which carry the idea of an empty or scooped-out space. The everyday dental sense, a decayed hole in a tooth, grew naturally from the literal meaning of an empty hollow.

How the word is built

• cav- (from Latin cavus: hollow)
• -ity (noun-forming suffix)
• -es (plural)