English

Pronunciation

Noun

gravamen ‎(plural gravamens)

1. The grievance complained of; the substantial cause of the action; also, in general, the ground or essence of a complaint.
   • 1822, The Annual Register, or a view of the History, Politics, and Literature, of the year 1820, part II, Abstracts of State Trials, account of trial following the Peterloo Massacre, pages 902–903:

     Falsehood, which was in ordinary cases the gravamen of the complaint, was omitted altogether in the information against him.

   • 2002, Eric S. Raymond, SF Words and Prototype Worlds:

     The gravamen of this essay is that these signifiers (the jargon of SF) function not merely as a set of isolated signs…

Translations

Spanish

Noun

gravamen m ‎(plural gravámenes)

1. tax
2. encumbrance