Cavey

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Relating to or resembling a cave, especially in being hollow, dim or full of caverns
2. Describing a place that is hollow, dark and cave-like, with many openings or chambers inside
3. Characterizing something that looks or feels like a cave, such as a hollow space enclosed by rock

Etymology: "Cavey" is about as transparent as English word-building gets: it takes the noun "cave" and adds the suffix "-y", which turns a noun into an adjective meaning "having the qualities of" or "characterised by" the noun. So a cavey place is one that resembles a cave, with hollow, echoing, or enclosed qualities. The suffix itself is old and productive. It descends from the Old English "-ig", which attached to nouns to form adjectives, and it has been used freely ever since to create descriptive words like "stony", "milky" and "leafy". English speakers can coin a new "-y" adjective almost on the spot, which is why "cavey" needs no special history to explain it. The base word "cave" came into English from Old French "cave", itself from Latin "cava", meaning a hollow place, and the Latin noun is related to "cavus", meaning hollow. Writers who wanted to describe the echoing or enclosed feel of a space rather than an actual cave found "cavey" a convenient shorthand.