grovel

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɡɹɒvəl/, /ˈɡɹʌvəl/^[1]

Etymology

It is a back-formation from groveling “prone, face down”,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} taken to be a present participle.^[6] Groveling was an adverb formed from Middle English on grufe “face downward”^[2][3][5] and the adverbial suffix -ling, which also survives in headlong and sidelong.^[2][4][6] Grufe is from Old Norse á grúfu (“face down”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

Earliest recorded meaning

To lie or crawl face down (1593, in Shakespeare).^[7][3][4] Merriam-Webster dates it to 1552.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense of humbling oneself or behaving abjectly followed in 1605,^[7] and is now the main one.^[2][6]

Timeline

• before 1325 – groveling, prone.^[3][4]
• 1593 – to lie or crawl face down.^[7][3]
• 1605 – figurative, to abase oneself.^[7]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To behave in a servile or abject way; to cringe or fawn.
2. To lie or crawl face down, as in fear or submission.
3. To take pleasure in base things; to wallow.

Word family

• groveler
• grovelingly

Usage notes

Random House gives truckle, toady, fawn, kowtow and pander as synonyms.^[6]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press