Etymologically
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gravate

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Forms

gravātē (comparative gravātius); the TLL finds no superlative[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin gravātus + -ē, from the participle of gravō (“to weigh down”),[1][3][4] which is formed from gravis (“heavy”).[3] The adjective goes back to Proto-Italic *gʷra(w)u- and Proto-Indo-European *gʷreh₂-u- (“heavy”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL records it from Plautus on;[2][6] the Bacchides has veniam mihi quam gravate pater dedit, “how grudgingly my father pardoned me”.[2][7]

Semantic evolution

It means grudgingly or reluctantly, the opposite of “kindly” or “freely”.[1][2] It is common with a negative, haud gravate or non gravate, “readily, without objection”: Plautus has a welcome given kindly and without reluctance, Varro has Merula answering readily, and Cicero writes of a man who defends many people's cases readily and free of charge.[2][8] In the De officiis Cicero has gravate ille primo, “at first he made difficulties”.[2][7] Livy and Suetonius also have it,[2] and Fronto uses the comparative.[8][2]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a grudging pardon.[2][6]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro has non gravate, “readily”.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses non gravate and gravate.[2][6]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy has haud gravate.[2][6]
  • 100–170 AD – Fronto uses the comparative gravatius.[8][6]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Grudgingly, reluctantly, unwillingly.[1][8]
  2. (with negative: haud gravate, non gravate) Readily, without objection.[2][8][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  4. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
  5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn