gravity English · revision 6361

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1505|origins=la gravis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈɡrævəti/, /ˈɡrævɪti/ ''(UK)''; /ˈɡrævət̬i/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|gravité]] or directly [[bor|la|gravitās|t=weight, heaviness, seriousness]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from [[m|la|gravis|t=heavy]] (see [[grave#2|alt=grave]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from PIE [[ine-pro|*gʷreh₂-|alt=*gwere-|t=heavy]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Weighty dignity, seriousness: 1505 in MWU, 1509, in Barclay's ''Ship of Fools'', in Barnhart.^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Influence or authority (1534) and a title of respect (1618) were early senses, now obsolete.^(OED 1989) The seriousness of a situation is from 1519.^(OED 1989) Physical weight and the force that makes objects fall towards the Earth are from the 1620s–1641,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and ''specific gravity'' is from 1666, in Boyle.^(Barnhart 1988) The Century Dictionary (1902) notes that careful writers keep [[gravitation]] for the force of attraction and gravity for its effect on Earth.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1505 – solemnity, dignity.^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1519 – seriousness of a situation.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1641 – the force of gravity.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1666 – specific gravity.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The force that attracts a body towards the centre of the [[Earth]] or another body with [[mass]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Extreme importance or seriousness: ''the gravity of the situation''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Solemnity of manner.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[gravitation]]

+ * [[graviton]]

+ * [[microgravity]]

+ * [[nongravity]]

+ * [[supergravity]]

+ * [[acceleration of gravity]]

+ * [[center of gravity]]

+ * [[gravity cell]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[grave]]

+ * [[gravid]]

+ * [[gravitate]]

+ * [[grief]]

+ * [[aggravate]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}