Etymology
The term was coined in mediaeval Latin as cunicularium (plural cunicularia), from Classical Latin cunicularis "pertaining to the rabbit", itself from cuniculus, from which the English "cony" (the European rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus). The Latin is taken from the Greek κύνικλος kúniklos (kýniklos). The earliest known use of this word is in Polybius:
ho de kuniklos porrôthen men horômenos einai dokei lagôs mikros, hotan d' eis tas cheiras labêi tis, megalên echei diaphoran kai kata tên epiphaneian kai kata tên brôsin: The rabbit indeed at a distance looks like a small hare; but when taken in the hand, it is found to be widely different both in appearance and in the taste of its flesh; and it also lives generally underground.An etymology has been proposed for the Greek word deriving it from a word meaning "burrow"; but it is more probable that evolution was to "(rabbit) hole" from "rabbit", rather than the reverse. It is most likely that the word is ultimately borrowed from the Iberian language.
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