Etymologically
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grateful

Etymology and origin of the English word grateful

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1552
Borrowed from
Latin gratus
Ultimate origin
Latin (gratus)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin gratus
English grateful

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈɡreɪt.fəl/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from obsolete grate “agreeable, thankful” (1523) and -ful,[2][3][4][5] grate being borrowed from Latin grātus (“pleasing, thankful”) (see grace),[2][5] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *gwere- (“to favour”).[3] Weekley called it “a most unusual formation”, -ful being added to an adjective,[3] and the OED suggests that it may have been influenced by Italian gradevole “pleasing”.[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Feeling gratitude, thankful: 1552 in the OED, Barnhart and MWU.[6][2][5] Pleasing to the mind or senses is from 1553 in the OED,[6] and Etymonline gives the 1550s for both.[6][3]

Semantic evolution

The sense “pleasing, agreeable, welcome”, as in the grateful shade, is now archaic.[7][8] Land responsive to cultivation was called grateful from 1832.[6]

Timeline

  • 1523 – grate, agreeable.[2]
  • 1552 – thankful.[6]
  • 1553 – pleasing.[6]
  • 1832 – of land, fertile.[6]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Feeling or showing gratitude; thankful.
  2. (archaic) Pleasing or welcome: a grateful shade.

Word family

  • gratefully
  • gratefulness
  • overgrateful
  • ungrateful
  • gratitude
  • ingrate
  • grace
  • gratify
  • gratis

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Grateful.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/grateful. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·