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gravity

Etymology and origin of the English word gravity

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1505
Borrowed from
Middle French gravité
Ultimate origin
Latin (gravis)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈɡrævəti/, /ˈɡrævɪti/ (UK); /ˈɡrævət̬i/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French gravité or directly borrowed from Latin gravitās (“weight, heaviness, seriousness”),[2][3][4][5] from gravis (“heavy”) (see grave),[2][3] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *gwere- (“heavy”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Weighty dignity, seriousness: 1505 in MWU, 1509, in Barclay's Ship of Fools, in Barnhart.[5][2]

Semantic evolution

Influence or authority (1534) and a title of respect (1618) were early senses, now obsolete.[6] The seriousness of a situation is from 1519.[6] Physical weight and the force that makes objects fall towards the Earth are from the 1620s–1641,[3][2] and specific gravity is from 1666, in Boyle.[2] The Century Dictionary (1902) notes that careful writers keep gravitation for the force of attraction and gravity for its effect on Earth.[3]

Timeline

  • 1505 – solemnity, dignity.[5]
  • 1519 – seriousness of a situation.[6]
  • 1641 – the force of gravity.[2]
  • 1666 – specific gravity.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The force that attracts a body towards the centre of the Earth or another body with mass.
  2. Extreme importance or seriousness: the gravity of the situation.
  3. Solemnity of manner.

Word family

  • gravitation
  • graviton
  • microgravity
  • nongravity
  • supergravity
  • acceleration of gravity
  • center of gravity
  • gravity cell
  • grave
  • gravid
  • gravitate
  • grief
  • aggravate

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ 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 Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Gravity.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/gravity. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·