Adit
name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A horizontal or nearly horizontal passage from the surface into a mine, as contrasted with a shaft or vertical entry passage, used for ventilation, haulage, drainage, or other purposes.
"A narrow and untrodden cavern at the bottom connects it with the outer sea; they could even then hear the mysterious thunder and gurgle of the surge in the subterranean adit, as it rolled huge boulders to and fro in darkness, and forced before it gusts of pent-up air."
- 2 a nearly horizontal passage from the surface into a mine wordnet
- 1 A diminutive of the male given name Aditya, from Sanskrit.
Example
More examples"A narrow and untrodden cavern at the bottom connects it with the outer sea; they could even then hear the mysterious thunder and gurgle of the surge in the subterranean adit, as it rolled huge boulders to and fro in darkness, and forced before it gusts of pent-up air."
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin aditus (“entrance, access”), from ad (“to, up to”) + itus (“going, departure”).
Hypocorism of Aditya.
More for "adit"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.