gravo

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈɡra.woː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɡraː.vo]^[1]

Forms

gravō (present infinitive gravāre, perfect active gravāvī, supine gravātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from gravis “heavy” with the verb suffix ⟨-ō⟩.^[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Plautus, of the passive “to show reluctance”.^[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to load, weigh down, as in Cicero, and of sleep, sickness or old age to oppress, overpower, as in Virgil; in Livy it meant to aggravate troubles.^[2] In the passive it meant to feel burdened, to be reluctant, object, as in Plautus.^[2] Lewis & Short note it is mostly poetic and post-Augustan.^[5]

It survives in Italian gravare and Spanish gravar “to tax”.^[1] Through Old French grever it gave English grieve about 1200, first “to make worried; to be painful”.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses the passive.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of weighing down.^[2][4]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of sleep.^[2][4]
• c. 1200 – English grieve is recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To load, weigh down.^[2]
2. To oppress, overpower.^[2]
3. To aggravate.^[2]
4. (passive) To feel burdened; to be reluctant.^[2]

Word family

• dēgravō

Related words

• gravis
• aggravō
• English grieve

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com