Dictionary

excavation en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˌɛkskəˈveɪʃn/
• (US) audio

Etymology

From Latin excavātiō (“a hollowing out”), from excavō (“to hollow out”), from ex + cavō (“to hollow out”), from cavus (“hollow”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewh₁- (“vault, hole”). Equivalent to excavate + -ion.

Meanings

1. (uncountable) The act of excavating, or of making hollow, by cutting, scooping, or digging out a part of a solid mass.
   • Near-synonyms: hollowing out, hollowing
2. (countable, uncountable) The act of excavating, or of making hollow, by cutting, scooping, or digging out a part of a solid mass. ▸ Especially, the trade of digging engineered holes for building foundations, roadbed preparations, and similar purposes.
3. (countable) A cavity formed by cutting, digging, or scooping.
   • Prof. Dainelli made a personal study of the lakes of the Upper Indus lying between its confluence with the Gilgit on the west and the plains of Kashmir on the east. From this district he cites fifty lakes and groups of lakes. Many of these are moraine-dammed, but some of the larger ones, as the Satpor Tso, the Tso Moriri, the Chiun Tso, and the group of lakes associated with the Pángong Tso, he considers to have originated by glacial excavation. 1924 March, E. J. Garwood, “Himalayan Glaciation”, in The Geographical Journal, volume LXIII, number 3, London: Royal Geographic Society, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 244:
4. (countable) An uncovered cutting in the earth, in distinction from a covered cutting or tunnel.
5. (countable) The material dug out in making a channel or cavity.
   • […] to cart away the excavations from the work, and to recart the same back again so far as required to fill the trench over the sewer […] 1878, N.Y. Supreme Court (page 4)
6. (uncountable) Archaeological research that unearths buildings, tombs and objects of historical value.
7. (countable) A site where an archaeological exploration is being carried out.
   • Gregory led the excavations alongside marine archaeologist Andreas Kallmeyer Bloch, who is also a curator at the National Museum. “It’s been a long process and I’ve come close to giving up along the way, but this is undoubtedly the craziest archaeological excavation I’ve yet been part of,” Bloch said in the news release. 2025 May 2, Amarachi Orie, “Archaeologists discover true identity of Costa Rica shipwrecks long thought to be pirate ships”, in CNN, archived from the original on 02 Aug 2025:
8. (countable) Something uncovered by archaeological excavation.
   • To date, [Taco's 1982 cover of Irving Berlin's 1935] "Cheek To Cheek" and similar auditory excavations have fared poorly. 1990, Wayne Jancik, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, →ISBN, page 392:
9. (countable, figuratively, uncountable) The act of discovering and exposing or developing (a quality).
   • In the same vein, Emirbayer and Desmond (2012) highlight the vital need for deeper scholarly reflexivity as regards race, advocating excavation of hidden presuppositions at social, disciplinary and scholastic levels. 2024, Geraldine Healy, Ahu Tatli, Cynthia Forson, Mustafa B. Öztürk, “Introduction—the pervasive nature of inequalities”, in Cynthia Forson, Geraldine Healy, Mustafa B. Öztürk, Ahu Tatli, editor, Research Handbook on Inequalities and Work, page 7:
   • This Andrade, a lawyer, seemed to enjoy bureucratic process as much as Mário de Andrade valorized the enthnographic excavation of creativity. 2015, John F. Collins, Revolt of the Saints:
   • Chua looks at the landscape of childhood rather like a mining engineer looks at a pristine landscape—ripe for the excavation of talent. 2015, Anne Manne, The Life of I : The New Culture of Narcissism:

Forms

Deriveds

reexcavation · excavation unit · re-excavation · nonexcavation · sub-excavation · excavationist · excavational

Synonyms

hollowing · hollowing · hollowing out · hollowing out

Translations (69)

ru экскава́ция (act of excavating, or of making hollow) · bg и́зкоп (uncovered cutting in the earth, in distinction from a covered cutting or tunnel) · fi kuoppa (uncovered cutting in the earth, in distinction from a covered cutting or tunnel) · ru раско́пки (archaeological excavation) · es excavación (act of excavating, or of making hollow) · de Ausgrabung (archaeological excavation) · fi kaivuu (act of excavating, or of making hollow) · ka გათხრა (archaeological excavation) · fi kaivaus (archaeological excavation) · pt escavação (act of excavating, or of making hollow) · ru рытьё (act of excavating, or of making hollow) · fi kaivaminen (act of excavating, or of making hollow) · ms penggalian (act of excavating, or of making hollow) · ru я́ма (cavity formed by cutting, digging, or scooping) · ka გათხრები (archaeological excavation) · pl wykop (cavity formed by cutting, digging, or scooping) · ru котлова́н (cavity formed by cutting, digging, or scooping) · el ανασκαφή (archaeological excavation) · bg изкопа́ване (act of excavating, or of making hollow) · la excavatio (act of excavating, or of making hollow) · io exkavado (act of excavating, or of making hollow) · io kavajo (uncovered cutting in the earth, in distinction from a covered cutting or tunnel) · pt escavação (archaeological excavation) · fi kuoppa (cavity formed by cutting, digging, or scooping) · te తవ్వకము (act of excavating, or of making hollow) · nl bouwput (cavity formed by cutting, digging, or scooping) · de Ausgrabung (act of excavating, or of making hollow) · it scavo (archaeological excavation) · es cavia (cavity formed by cutting, digging, or scooping) · ca excavació (act of excavating, or of making hollow) · pl wykopalisko (act of excavating, or of making hollow) · es excavación (archaeological excavation) · de Aushub (material dug out in making a channel or cavity) · ms pengorekan (act of excavating, or of making hollow) · tr kazı (archaeological excavation) · grc ἀνασκαφή (act of excavating, or of making hollow) · tr kazı (act of excavating, or of making hollow) · ca excavació (archaeological excavation) · io exkavo (act of excavating, or of making hollow) · ru углубле́ние (cavity formed by cutting, digging, or scooping) · ru копа́ние (act of excavating, or of making hollow) · io exkavuro (cavity formed by cutting, digging, or scooping) · it scavo (act of excavating, or of making hollow) · ru око́п (uncovered cutting in the earth, in distinction from a covered cutting or tunnel) · de Grabung (act of excavating, or of making hollow) · la excavatio (archaeological excavation) · ota قازمه (act of excavating, or of making hollow) · nl afgraving (act of excavating, or of making hollow) · be раскопкі (archaeological excavation) · gd cladhach (act of excavating, or of making hollow) · el εκσκαφή (act of excavating, or of making hollow) · cmn 發掘 /发掘 (archaeological excavation) · pl wykopaliska (archaeological excavation) · es excavación (cavity formed by cutting, digging, or scooping) · fr fouille (archaeological excavation) · ta அகழ்வாய்வு (archaeological excavation) · pt escavação (cavity formed by cutting, digging, or scooping) · bg разко́пки (archaeological excavation) · bg и́зкоп (cavity formed by cutting, digging, or scooping) · cmn 挖掘 (archaeological excavation) · ta அகழ்வாராய்ச்சி (archaeological excavation) · sv utgrävning (act of excavating, or of making hollow) · sv utgrävning (archaeological excavation) · ja 発掘 (archaeological excavation) · gu ખોદકામ (act of excavating, or of making hollow) · ms ekskavasi (act of excavating, or of making hollow) · nl opgraving (archaeological excavation) · fi kaivuujäte (material dug out in making a channel or cavity) · de Ausschachtung (uncovered cutting in the earth, in distinction from a covered cutting or tunnel)