CRYPTA, a subterraneous cell or vault, especially under a church, for the interment of particular families or persons. S. Ciampini, describing the outside of the Vatican, speaks of the crypts of St Andrew, St Paul,
&c. The word is formed of κρυπτα, abcondo, "I hide;" whence κρυπτα, crypta.
Vitruvius uses the word crypta for a part of a building, answering nearly to our cellar; Juvenal for a cloaca. Hence crypto-particus, a subterraneous place arched or vaulted; used as an under-work or passage in old walls. The same is also used for the decoration at the entry of a grotto.