catacomb
noun
Kingman Brewster †1988
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About forty Christian catacombs have been found near the roads that once led into Rome. After the decline of the Roman empire these cemeteries were forgotten, not to be rediscovered until 1578. Catacomb has come to refer to different kinds of underground chambers and passageways. The catacombs of Paris are abandoned stone quarries that were not used for burials until 1787. The catacombs built by a monastery in Palermo, Sicily, for its deceased members later began accepting bodies from outside the monastery; today you may wander through looking at hundreds of mummified corpses propped against the catacomb walls, dressed in tattered clothes that were once fashionable.
Examples of catacomb in a Sentence
Monica Mercuri, Forbes, 11 Oct. 2024
As its name suggests, the EP features the band performing in the actual catacombs beneath the city of Paris.
—Hugh McIntyre, Forbes.com, 26 June 2025
The city’s extensive labyrinth of catacombs was nearby as well, underground ossuaries crammed full of the skeletal remains of millions of Parisians.
—Anelise Chen
june 3, Literary Hub, 3 June 2025
What’s a place in L.A. that might be comparable to the catacombs?
—Mikael Wood, Los Angeles Times, 10 June 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Catacomb.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/catacomb. Accessed 20 Jul. 2025.
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catacomb
noun
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