 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") derives.The Latin is taken from the Greek κύνικλος "kúniklos" ("kýniklos") (compare modern Greek κουνέλι "kouneli").The earliest known use of this word is in Polybius