# excavation
## English
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˌɛkskəˈveɪʃn/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Hyphenation: ex‧ca‧va‧tion
* Rhymes: -eɪʃən

### Noun

excavation (countable and uncountable, plural excavations)
* (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
** Especially, the trade of digging engineered holes for building foundations, roadbed preparations, and similar purposes.
* (countable) A cavity formed by cutting, digging, or scooping.
** 1924 March, E. J. Garwood, “Himalayan Glaciation”, in The Geographical Journal‎, volume LXIII, number 3, London: Royal Geographic Society, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 244: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.
* (countable) An uncovered cutting in the earth, in distinction from a covered cutting or tunnel.
* (countable) The material dug out in making a channel or cavity.
* (uncountable) Archaeological research that unearths buildings, tombs and objects of historical value.
* (countable) A site where an archaeological exploration is being carried out.
* (countable) Something uncovered by archaeological excavation.
** 1990, Wayne Jancik, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, →ISBN, page 392:To date, [Taco's 1982 cover of Irving Berlin's 1935] "Cheek To Cheek" and similar auditory excavations have fared poorly.
* (figurative) The act of discovering and exposing or developing (a quality).
** 2015, Anne Manne, The Life of I : The New Culture of Narcissism:Chua looks at the landscape of childhood rather like a mining engineer looks at a pristine landscape—ripe for the excavation of talent.
** 2015, John F. Collins, Revolt of the Saints:This Andrade, a lawyer, seemed to enjoy bureucratic process as much as Mário de Andrade valorized the enthnographic excavation of creativity.
** 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: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.

#### Derived terms

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

#### Translations
## French
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɛk.ska.va.sjɔ̃/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

excavation f (plural excavations)
* excavation

### Further reading

* “excavation”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.