gravoso

Forms

gravoso (feminine gravosa, masculine plural gravosos, feminine plural gravosas)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish grave + -oso, from grave in its sense “heavy”.^[2][1][3] Corominas treats it in the article on the adjective and takes its first record from Oudin's dictionary of 1607;^[4][5] Covarrubias does not have it, and the Diccionario de Autoridades quotes it from authors of the second half of the 17th century.^[4][5]

The same formation is Italian gravoso and Catalan gravós.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas's first record is Oudin's dictionary of 1607.^[4][5] The Diccionario de Autoridades defines the word as burdensome, troublesome, heavy and in a way intolerable, and quotes a chronicle: El vano pundonor de la honra hace la necessidad más gravosa “vain punctilio about honour makes need more burdensome”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The first records from the Americas belong to the language of petitions and official reports: in 1629 a document of the New Kingdom of Granada calls a burden muy gravosa e intolerable para los dichos naturales “very heavy and intolerable for the said natives”.^[9] The Academy's dictionary added the sense “costly” in 1843, and its 1884 edition gave the etymology, from grave “heavy”.^[10][3] Alemany noted the construction with a, gravoso al pueblo “burdensome to the people”.^[11] Today the DLE gives the senses “troublesome, heavy, sometimes intolerable” and “causing expense or loss”, and Moliner lists costoso, oneroso and pesado as near-synonyms.^[2][12]

Timeline

• 1607 – first record, in Oudin's dictionary.^[4][5]
• 1629 – first record from the Americas, in the New Kingdom of Granada.^[9]
• 1786–1793 – Terreros glosses it with French lourd and fâcheux and Italian gravoso.^[7]
• 1843 – the Academy's dictionary adds the sense “costly”.^[10]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary derives it from grave “heavy”.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. burdensome, onerous: troublesome and heavy to bear, at times intolerable: Aquella obligación le resultaba cada vez más gravosa.^[2][12][1]
2. costly: causing expense or loss.^[2][12]

Related words

• grave
• gravar
• oneroso

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. gravoso
3. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 541
4. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 202
5. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. grave
6. ^ Barcia, Roque (1880–1883), Primer diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Tipográfico de Álvarez Hermanos, p. 1021
7. ^ a b Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 2, 237
8. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 78
9. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. gravoso
10. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 371
11. ^ Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 849
12. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. gravoso