gravesco

Forms

gravēscō (present infinitive gravēscere); third conjugation, no passive, no perfect or supine stems^[1]

Etymology

It is an inchoative verb, from Latin gravis (“heavy”), formed with -ēscō.^[2][3][4] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of gravis, which goes back to Proto-Italic *gʷra(w)u- and Proto-Indo-European *gʷreh₂-u- (“heavy”).^[5] He compares Sanskrit गुरु (gurú-, “heavy”) and Ancient Greek βαρύς (barús, “heavy”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lucretius is its first author:^[5] he uses it of the force of falling bodies that grows stronger (impetus ille gravēscit) and of troubles that grow worse.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense is to become heavy or weighed down: Virgil says that the whole grove grows heavy with fruit.^[6][8][9] Pliny the Elder uses it of female camels becoming pregnant.^[6][3] In Lucretius and Tacitus it means to grow more severe or to worsen, of misfortune and of the failing health of Augustus.^[6][9] Ambrose uses it of prayer that loses its worth through sin.^[3][7] The MLW records it in medieval writers of an illness growing worse, of weakening, and in music of a voice falling lower in pitch.^[10]

Timeline

• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of force growing stronger and troubles growing worse.^[6][11]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of a grove laden with fruit.^[6][11]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of camels becoming pregnant.^[6][11]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of the worsening health of Augustus.^[6][11]
• c. 340–397 AD – Ambrose uses it of prayer losing its worth.^[3][11]

Meanings

Verb

1. To become heavy, be weighed down (with fruit).^[6][8]
2. (of animals) To become pregnant.^[6][8]
3. To grow stronger;^[6][9] (of troubles, illness) to become grave, worsen.^[6][9]
4. (Late Latin) To lose worth.^[3][7]
5. (Medieval Latin, music) To fall in pitch.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c 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 g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
10. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
11. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de