crypt

[kript] /krɪpt/

noun

a subterranean chamber or vault, especially one beneath the main floor of a church, used as a burial place, a location for secret meetings, etc.

Anatomy. a slender pit or recess; a small glandular cavity.

Origin

1375-1425 for sense “grotto”; 1555-65 for current senses; late Middle English cripte < Latin crypta < Greek kryptḗ hidden place, noun use of feminine of kryptós hidden, verbid of krýptein to hide; replacing earlier crypta < Latin, as above

Related forms

undercrypt, noun

crypt-

variant of crypto- before a vowel.

Examples from the web for crypt

Take a few steps across it, over a thin creek, and you come face to face with a rain-stained crypt.
They are now displayed in situ in the underground crypt museum.
My favorite, and one often missed, is the crypt beneath the altar.
The crypt's marble floor, a gift from the royal pilgrim, is one legacy of that visit.
In the grid, the area below the columns is a dark crypt into which no clue answer may enter.
Using ground-penetrating radar, they scanned the likeliest areas, turning up what appeared to be a vaulted underground crypt.
They once rested in this marble crypt but are now held in a more elaborately decorated tomb on the basilica's main level.
Colon crypt cells renew the lining of the intestine and make mucus.

British Dictionary definitions for crypt

crypt

/krɪpt/

noun

a cellar, vault, or underground chamber, esp beneath a church, where it is often used as a chapel, burial place, etc

(anatomy) any pitlike recess or depression

Derived Forms

cryptal, adjective

Word Origin

C18: from Latin crypta, from Greek kruptē vault, secret place, from kruptos hidden, from kruptein to hide

Word Origin and History for crypt

early 15c., "grotto, cavern," from Latin crypta "vault, cavern," from Greek krypte (short for krypte kamara "hidden vault"), fem. of kryptos "hidden," verbal adjective from kryptein "to hide," from PIE *krau- "to conceal, hide" (cf. Old Church Slavonic kryjo, kryti "to hide"). Meaning "underground burial vault or chapel in a church" first attested 1789.

crypt in Medicine

crypt (krĭpt)
n.
A small pit, recess, or glandular cavity in the body.

crypt in Technology

Unix command to perform encryption and decryption.