| 释义 |
‖ katavothron|kætəˈvɒθrən|
Also catabothron, kaˈtabothron. Pl. -a (-ons). Forms with initial k and medial v are most usual (with varying endings: see note below).
[a. mod.Gr. καταβόθρα swallow-hole, f. κατά down + βόθρος hole.
Katavothra (or -bothra) is the correct sing. form, with plurals -ai (-æ) and -es (corresponding respectively to the mod.Gr. pl. forms καταβόθραι and καταβόθρες). Katavothre is an erron. sing. formation from katavothres; the sing. ending -on (pl. -a, -ons) corresponds to nothing in mod. or ancient Gr. and prob. arose as a result of mistaking καταβόθρα for a neut. pl.]
A subterranean channel or deep chasm formed by the action of water.
1820T. S. Hughes Trav. Sicily II. xii. 311 A lake whose superfluous waters are carried off by a catabothron or subterranean channel. 1833Lyell Princ. Geol. III. 144 The gulphs (katavothrons) of the plain of Tripolitza have swallowed up of late years thousands of human bones. 1846Grote Greece ii. viii. II. 596 Tegea and Mantineia—conterminous towns..separated by one of those capricious torrents which only escapes through katabothra. 1869H. F. Tozer Highl. Turkey I. vii. 160 The Mediævals..had the idea of there being a catavothra from the lake. 1878Encycl. Brit. VIII. 685/2 The subterranean course of the streams is frequently indicated by peculiar vents or pits caused by the subsidence of the soil; they are popularly known in Greece as catavothra. 1892A. J. Jukes-Browne Student's Handbk. Physical Geol. (ed. 2) xi. 197 The torrents of the Morea are usually charged with reddish mud, sand, and pebbles, when they enter the katavothra, but are pure and limpid when they flow out again. 1892Proc. R. Geogr. Soc. XIV. 466 (heading) The katavothræ of the Morea. Ibid. 467 All these basins are drained by underground channels, to the entrance of which the name katavothra is given. 1937Geogr. Jrnl. XC. 448 Since the water was drawn off, the mouths of twenty-five large katavothrai..have appeared in the sides of the surrounding hills. 1957G. E. Hutchinson Treat. Limnol. I. i. 107 Though these variations [in level] can in part depend on rainfall, they are largely independent of it and may be attributed to the silting of the katavothrai or sinks which drain the lake. 1970Water-Supply Paper U.S. Geol. Survey No. 1899-K. 11/2 Katavothron, a closed depression or swallow hole. 1971J. N. Jennings Karst v. 74 The French name estavelle is commonly used for these alternating orifices but they are also well known by the Greek katavothre. |