grovel English · revision 1339

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈɡɹɒvəl/, /ˈɡɹʌvəl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a back-formation from ''groveling'' “prone, face down”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) taken to be a present participle.^(RHWU) ''Groveling'' was an adverb formed from Middle English ''on grufe'' “face downward”^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate) and the adverbial suffix ''-ling'', which also survives in [[headlong]] and [[sidelong]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) ''Grufe'' is from [[non|á grúfu|t=face down]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To lie or crawl face down (1593, in Shakespeare).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster dates it to 1552.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The figurative sense of humbling oneself or behaving abjectly followed in 1605,^(OED 1989) and is now the main one.^(AHD)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1325 – ''groveling'', prone.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1593 – to lie or crawl face down.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1605 – figurative, to abase oneself.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To behave in a servile or abject way; to [[cringe]] or [[fawn]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To lie or crawl face down, as in fear or submission.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To take pleasure in base things; to [[wallow]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[groveler]]

+ * [[grovelingly]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Random House gives ''truckle'', ''toady'', ''fawn'', ''kowtow'' and ''pander'' as synonyms.^(RHWU)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}