Etymologically
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gravitational

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Pronunciation

  • /ˌɡɹævɪˈteɪʃənəl/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English gravitation + -al.[2][3][4] Gravitation is from New Latin gravitātiō, a noun of action from gravitō (“to gravitate”),[2][5][4] which was formed from Latin gravitās (“heaviness, weight”),[2][3][6] from gravis (“heavy”),[2][3] from Proto-Indo-European *gwere- (“heavy”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of, relating to or caused by gravitation: 1816 according to Etymonline;[3] the OED's first quotation is from B. Powell's Essays of 1855.[2][7]

Semantic evolution

The adjective followed the noun gravitation, used in physics from the 1640s for the force that gives weight to objects, and also figuratively for a tendency towards a centre of attraction.[3][2] The OED defines the adjective as relating to gravitation or employing its law, the attraction of every particle of matter for every other.[2] The Shorter Oxford records the set phrase gravitational constant, the constant relating the attraction between two bodies to their masses and distance.[4] Chambers also gives a physics sense: of the weakest kind of interaction between particles.[8]

Timeline

  • 1644 – gravitation, figuratively, a natural tendency towards something.[2]
  • 1646 – gravitation, the attraction of one body for another.[2]
  • 1816 – gravitational (Etymonline).[3]
  • 1855 – first OED quotation, in B. Powell's Essays.[2][7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of, relating to, or caused by gravitation or gravity: The probe used the planet's gravitational pull to gain speed.[9][10][2]
  2. (physics) Of the weakest kind of interaction between elementary particles.[8]

Word family

  • antigravitational
  • nongravitational
  • gravitational collapse
  • gravitational constant
  • gravitational field
  • gravitational interaction
  • gravitational lens
  • gravitational mass

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  7. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  8. ^ a b The Chambers Dictionary (2008), 11th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap
  9. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  10. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins