# grotto

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈɡɹɒt.əʊ/ · frequency rank #32,830

## Definitions
1. A small cave.
2. An artificial cavern-like retreat.
3. A Marian shrine, usually built in a cavern-like structure.
4. A local organization of cavers that typically organizes trips to caves and provides information and training for caving; a caving club.
5. A secretive name for a local group of underground Satanists.
6. A garden or roadside shrine with a small cave containing a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary (usually Our Lady of Lourdes and sometimes paired with a water feature)

## Etymology
From Italian grotta, from Vulgar Latin grupta, from Classical Latin crypta. Doublet of crypt.
The Philippine sense is from the holy cave in Lourdes, France.

## Easily confused with
- **grout** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grotto-vs-grout)
- **growth** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/grotto-vs-growth)
- **GOTO** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/goto-vs-grotto)
- **Gott** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gott-vs-grotto)
- **gotta** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gotta-vs-grotto)
- **Groot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/groot-vs-grotto)
- **Gotti** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gotti-vs-grotto)
- **ghetto** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ghetto-vs-grotto)
- **gritty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gritty-vs-grotto)
- **Groton** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/groton-vs-grotto)

## Common misspellings (6)
`ggrotto`, `gortto`, `grotot`, `grrotto`, `grtoto`, `rgotto`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/grotto