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Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary cat·a·comb \\ˈka-tə-ˌkōm\\ noun ETYMOLOGY Middle English catacumb, Middle French catacombe, probably from Old Italian catacomba, from Late Latin catacumbae, plural
DATE 15th century
1. a subterranean cemetery of galleries with recesses for tombs — usually used in plural 2. something resembling a catacomb: as a. an underground passageway or group of passageways b. a complex set of interrelated things the endless catacombs of formal education — Kingman Brewster †1988
catacomb
O.E. catacumbas, from L.L. (400 C.E.) catacumbae, originally the region of underground tombs between the 2nd and 3rd milestones of the Appian Way (where the bodies of apostles Paul and Peter were said to have been laid), origin obscure, perhaps once a proper name, or dissimilation from L. cata tumbas "at the graves," from cata- "among" + tumbas, acc. pl. of tumba "tomb." Extended 1836 to any subterranean receptacle of the dead (as in Paris).
Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged cat·a·comb\ˈkad.əˌkōm, -atə-, Brit also -üm\ noun( -s) Etymology: Middle French catacombe, probably from Old Italian catacomba, from Late Latin catacumbae, plural, probably alteration of (assumed) Vulgar Latin cata tumbas near the tombs, from cata near, by (from Greek kata down, against, opposite) + tumbas, accusative plural of tumba tomb — more at cata- , tomb 1. : a subterranean cemetery consisting of galleries or passages with side recesses for tombs — usually used in plural < the catacombs at Rome >2. : a place like a catacomb: as a. : a subterranean passageway or vault or a group of such passageways or vaults used especially for storing the bones of the dead < the underground stone quarries which form the catacombs of Paris > b. : a complex set of interrelated passageways or rooms < the sulphurous catacombs of Liverpool Street Station in London — Fred Majdalany >
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