Definition of "hypogeum" [‖Hyp•o•ge•um]

• A subterranean chamber of an ancient building. (noun)
• An ancient subterranean burial chamber, such as a catacomb. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The only important hypogeum which is wholly Jewish in its arrangement, and may consequently belong to an earlier or to any epoch, is that known as the tombs of the prophets, in the western flank of the Mount of Olives."
• "Before the amazed eyes of the congregation, a cascade of white petals descends from the coffered ceiling, blanketing the hypogeum."
• "To be the steward of an entire hypogeum, and particularly, as I was in my youth, to be steward of my Hypogeum Apotropaic in the time of Father Inire, requires the most unremitting effort; one has hardly a watch in which to sleep."