Standard Lemma guide

cenote

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /sɛˈnoʊteɪ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • /səˈnoʊtiː/

1

noun

Meaning 1

A deep natural well or sinkhole, especially in Mexico and Central America, formed by the collapse of surface limestone that exposes groundwater underneath, and sometimes used by the ancient Mayans for sacrificial offerings.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Spanish cenote, from Yucatec Maya tsʼonoʼot (“hole with water”).

Across languages

Translations

21 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: سِينُوتِي (sinōtē) — deep natural well or sinkhole
  • Basque: zenote — deep natural well or sinkhole
  • Basque: cenote — deep natural well or sinkhole
  • Danish: ferskvandshul — deep natural well or sinkhole
  • Danish: cenote — deep natural well or sinkhole
  • Dutch: cenote — deep natural well or sinkhole
  • Finnish: sortumakaivo — deep natural well or sinkhole
  • French: cénote — deep natural well or sinkhole
  • German: Cenote — deep natural well or sinkhole
  • Greek: σενότε (senóte) — deep natural well or sinkhole
  • Hebrew: סנוטה (senóte) — deep natural well or sinkhole
  • Italian: cenote — deep natural well or sinkhole
  • Japanese: セノーテ (senōte) — deep natural well or sinkhole
  • Korean: 세노테 (senote) — deep natural well or sinkhole
  • Polish: cenote — deep natural well or sinkhole
  • Portuguese: cenote — deep natural well or sinkhole
  • Russian: сено́т (senót) — deep natural well or sinkhole
  • Serbo-Croatian: cenota — deep natural well or sinkhole
  • Spanish: cenote — deep natural well or sinkhole
  • Swedish: cenote — deep natural well or sinkhole
  • Yucatec Maya: tsʼonoʼot — deep natural well or sinkhole