dig vs excavate

dig is a noun but excavate is not a noun.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
dig	Yes	No	Yes	No
excavate	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, dig and excavate are synonyms defined as:

Other synonyms of dig include hollow.

As verbs, excavate is a hypernym of dig; that is, excavate is a word with a broader meaning than dig:

Other hypernyms of dig include unearth.

dig (noun)	excavate (noun)
the act of digging
the act of touching someone suddenly with your finger or elbow
a small gouge (as in the cover of a book)
an aggressive remark directed at a person like a missile and intended to have a telling effect
the site of an archeological exploration

dig (verb)	excavate (verb)
get the meaning of something	find by digging in the ground
turn up, loosen, or remove earth	remove the inner part or the core of
create by digging	form by hollowing
remove the inner part or the core of	recover through digging
poke or thrust abruptly
thrust down or into
remove, harvest, or recover by digging
work hard