Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Grave

Grave

,
Verb.
T.
(Naut.)
To clean, as a vessel’s bottom, of barnacles, grass, etc., and pay it over with pitch; – so called because graves or greaves was formerly used for this purpose.

Grave

,
Adj.
[
Com
par.
Graver
(grāv′ẽr)
;
sup
erl.
Gravest.
]
[F., fr. L.
gravis
heavy; cf. It. & Sp.
grave
heavy, grave. See
Grief.
]
1.
Of great weight; heavy; ponderous.
[Obs.]
His shield
grave
and great.
Chapman.
2.
Of importance; momentous; weighty; influential; sedate; serious; – said of character, relations, etc.;
as,
grave
deportment, character, influence, etc.
Most potent,
grave
, and reverend seigniors.
Shakespeare
A
grave
and prudent law, full of moral equity.
Milton.
3.
Not light or gay; solemn; sober; plain;
as, a
grave
color; a
grave
face
.
4.
(Mus.)
(a)
Not acute or sharp; low; deep; – said of sound;
as, a
grave
note or key
.
(b)
Slow and solemn in movement.
Syn. – Solemn; sober; serious; sage; staid; demure; thoughtful; sedate; weighty; momentous; important.
–
Grave
,
Sober
,
Serious
,
Solemn.
Sober supposes the absence of all exhilaration of spirits, and is opposed to
gay
or
flighty
;
as,
sober
thought
. Serious implies considerateness or reflection, and is opposed to
jocose
or
sportive
;
as, serious and important concerns
. Grave denotes a state of mind, appearance, etc., which results from the pressure of weighty interests, and is opposed to
hilarity
of feeling or
vivacity
of manner;
as, a
qrave
remark;
qrave
attire
. Solemn is applied to a case in which gravity is carried to its highest point;
as, a
solemn
admonition; a
solemn
promise
.

Grave

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp.
Graved
(grāvd)
;
p. p.
Graven
(grāv′’n)
or
Graved
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Graving
.]
[AS.
grafan
to dig, grave, engrave; akin to OFries.
greva
, D.
graven
, G.
graben
, OHG. & Goth.
graban
, Dan.
grabe
, Sw.
gräfva
, Icel.
grafa
, but prob. not to Gr.
γράφειν
to write, E.
graphic.
Cf.
Grave
,
Noun.
,
Grove
,
Noun.
]
1.
To dig.
[Obs.]
Chaucer.
He hath
graven
and digged up a pit.
Ps. vii. 16 (Book of Common Prayer).
2.
To carve or cut, as letters or figures, on some hard substance; to engrave.
Thou shalt take two onyx stones, and
grave
on them the names of the children of Israel.
Ex. xxviii. 9.
3.
To carve out or give shape to, by cutting with a chisel; to sculpture;
as, to
grave
an image
.
With gold men may the hearte
grave
.
Chaucer.
4.
To impress deeply (on the mind); to fix indelibly.
O! may they graven in thy heart remain.
Prior.
5.
To entomb; to bury.
[Obs.]
Chaucer.
Lie full low,
graved
in the hollow ground.
Shakespeare

Grave

,
Verb.
I.
To write or delineate on hard substances, by means of incised lines; to practice engraving.

Grave

,
Noun.
[AS.
gr?f
, fr.
grafan
to dig; akin to D. & OS.
graf
, G.
grab
, Icel.
gröf
, Russ.
grob'
grave, coffin. See
Grave
to carve.]
An excavation in the earth as a place of burial; also, any place of interment; a tomb; a sepulcher. Hence: Death; destruction.
He bad lain in the
grave
four days.
John xi. 17.
Grave wax
,
adipocere
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Grave

GRAVE

, a final syllable, is a grove.

GRAVE

,
Verb.
T.
pret. graved; pp. graven or graved. [Gr. to write; originally all writing was graving; Eng. to scrape.]
1.
To carve or cut letters or figures on stone or other hard substance, with a chisel or edged tool; to engrave. [The latter word is now more generally used.]
Thou shalt take two onyx-stones and grave on them the names of the children of Israel. Ex.28.
2.
To carve; to form or shape by cutting with a chisel; as, to grave an image.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image. Ex.20.
3.
To clean a ship's bottom by burning off filth, grass or other foreign matter, and paying it over with pitch.
4.
To entomb. [Unusual.]

GRAVE

,
Verb.
I.
To carve; to write or delineate on hard substances; to practice engraving.

GRAVE

,
Noun.
[L. scrobs.]
1.
The ditch, pit or excavated place in which a dead human body is deposited; a place for the corpse of a human being; a sepulcher.
2.
A tomb.
3.
Any place where the dead are reposited; a place of great slaughter or mortality. Flanders was formerly the grave of English armies. Russia proved to be the grave of the French army under Bonaparte. The tropical climates are the grave of American seamen and of British soldiers.
4.
Graves, in the plural, sediment of tallow melted. [Not in use or local.]

Definition 2024

grave

grave

See also: gravé, gravë, and -grave

English

Noun

A freshly dug grave

grave ‎(plural graves)

  1. An excavation in the earth as a place of burial
    • (Can we date this quote?), John 11:17:
      He had lain in the grave four days.
    • 1856, Eleanor Marx-Aveling (translator), Gustave Flaubert (author), Madame Bovary, Part III, Chapter X:
      They reached the cemetery. The men went right down to a place in the grass where a grave was dug. They ranged themselves all round; and while the priest spoke, the red soil thrown up at the sides kept noiselessly slipping down at the corners.
  2. Any place of interment; a tomb; a sepulcher.
  3. death, destruction.
Derived terms
Translations

See also

Etymology 2

From Middle English graven, from Old English grafan ‎(“to dig, dig up, grave, engrave, carve, chisel”), from Proto-Germanic *grabaną ‎(“to dig”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ- ‎(“to dig, scratch, scrape”). Cognate with Dutch graven ‎(“to dig”), German graben ‎(“to dig”), Swedish gräva ‎(“to dig”).

Verb

grave ‎(third-person singular simple present graves, present participle graving, simple past graved or grove, past participle graved or graven)

  1. (transitive, obsolete) To dig.
  2. (transitive, obsolete) To carve or cut, as letters or figures, on some hard substance; to engrave.
    • Exodus 28:9:
      Thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel.
    • 1872, James De Mille, The Cryptogram, HTML edition, The Gutenberg Project, published 2009:
      Deep lines were graven on her pale forehead, and on her wan, thin cheeks.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Robert Louis Stevenson, Requiem:
      This be the verse you grave for me / "Here he lies where he longs to be"
  3. (transitive, obsolete) To carve out or give shape to, by cutting with a chisel; to sculpture
  4. to grave an image
    • (Can we date this quote?) Geoffrey Chaucer:
      With gold men may the hearte grave.
  5. (transitive, obsolete) To impress deeply (on the mind); to fix indelibly.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Matthew Prior:
      O! may they graven in thy heart remain.
  6. (transitive, obsolete) To entomb; to bury.
  7. (transitive, obsolete, nautical) To clean, as a vessel's bottom, of barnacles, grass, etc., and pay it over with pitch — so called because graves or greaves was formerly used for this purpose.
  8. (intransitive, obsolete) To write or delineate on hard substances, by means of incised lines; to practice engraving.

Related terms

Translations

Etymology 3

From French grave, from Latin gravis ‎(“heavy, important”).

Adjective

grave ‎(comparative graver, superlative gravest)

  1. (obsolete) Influential, important; authoritative. [16th-18th c.]
  2. Characterised by a dignified sense of seriousness; not cheerful, sombre. [from 16th c.]
  3. Low in pitch, tone etc. [from 17th c.]
    • (Can we date this quote?) Moore, Encyclopedia of Music:
      The thicker the cord or string, the more grave is the note or tone.
  4. Serious, in a negative sense; important, formidable. [from 19th c.]
    • 2016 February 6, James Zogby, “Israel’s prickliness blocks the long quest for peace”, in The National:
      Israel’s behaviour is doing grave damage to the Palestinian people and to any hope for peace.
Synonyms
Translations

Noun

grave ‎(plural graves)

  1. A written accent used in French, Italian, and other languages. è is an e with a grave accent.
Translations

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: complete · access · ways · #951: grave · serious · possession · move

Danish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɡraːvə/, [ˈɡ̊ʁɑːvə]

Etymology 1

From Italian grave, from Latin gravis ‎(“heavy, grave”).

Adverb

grave

  1. (music) grave (low in pitch, tone etc.)
  2. accent grave – accent grave, grave accent

Etymology 2

From Old Norse grafa ‎(“to dig, bury”), from Proto-Germanic *grabaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrābʰ- ‎(“to dig, scratch, scrape”).

Verb

grave ‎(imperative grav, infinitive at grave, present tense graver, past tense gravede, perfect tense har gravet)

  1. dig (to move hard-packed earth out of the way)
Derived terms

Etymology 3

See grav ‎(“grave, tomb, pit”).

Noun

grave c

  1. plural indefinite of grav

Dutch

Pronunciation

Verb

grave

  1. (archaic) singular present subjunctive of graven

Anagrams

Esperanto

Adverb

grave

  1. seriously, gravely

French

Etymology

Borrowing from Latin gravis. Doublet of grief.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɡʁav/

Adjective

grave m, f ‎(plural graves)

  1. serious
  2. solemn
  3. low-pitched

Adverb

grave

  1. (informal) much; a lot
    Je te kiffe grave !
    I love you like crazy!

Related terms

Verb

grave

  1. first-person singular present indicative of graver
  2. third-person singular present indicative of graver
  3. first-person singular present subjunctive of graver
  4. first-person singular present subjunctive of graver
  5. second-person singular imperative of graver

Anagrams

Italian

Etymology

Borrowing from Latin gravis. Doublet of greve.

Adjective

grave m, f ‎(masculine and feminine plural gravi)

  1. grave, serious
  2. heavy
  3. solemn

Synonyms

Antonyms

Related terms

Anagrams

Latin

Adjective

grave

  1. nominative neuter singular of gravis
  2. accusative neuter singular of gravis
  3. vocative neuter singular of gravis

References

Middle French

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old French grave.

Noun

grave f (plural graves)

  1. gravel

Descendants

References

  • (fr) Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle (1881) (grave)

Middle High German

Etymology

From Old High German grāfo, grāvo, grāfio, grāvio ‎(“count, local judge”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɡraːvə/

Noun

grâve m

  1. count, local judge

Declension

Derived terms

Descendants

References

  • “grâve” Benecke, Georg Friedrich, Wilhelm Müller, and Friedrich Zarncke. Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch: mit benutzung des Nachlasses von Benecke. Vol. 1. S. Hirzel, 1863.

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse grafa, from Proto-Germanic *grabaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrābʰ- ‎(“to dig, scratch, scrape”).

Verb

grave ‎(imperative grav, present tense graver, passive graves, simple past gravde or grov, past participle gravd, present participle gravende)

  1. to dig
  2. grave ut - to excavate

Derived terms

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Verb

grave ‎(present tense grev, past tense grov, past participle grave, passive infinitive gravast, present participle gravande, imperative grav)

  1. Alternative form of grava

Derived terms

Old French

Etymology

Probably via Gaulish from Celtic *graw, related to Cornish grow ‎(“gravel”), Breton grouan, and Welsh gro ‎(“gravel”); ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰr-eu-d-.

Alternative forms

Noun

grave f ‎(oblique plural graves, nominative singular grave, nominative plural graves)

  1. gravel

Descendants

References

  • (fr) Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle (1881) (grave)

Portuguese

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Old Portuguese grave, from Latin gravis ‎(“heavy; grave”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷréh₂us.

Adjective

grave m, f ‎(plural graves, comparable)

  1. serious; grave (having possible severe negative consequences)
    Sofria de uma doença grave.‎
    He suffered from a serious disease.
  2. (of sound) low-pitched; grave (low in pitch or tone)
    O som da tuba é mais grave do que o do trombone.‎
    The sound of the tuba has a lower pitch than that of the trombone.
  3. grave; serious; sombre; austere; solemn (characterised by a dignified sense of seriousness)
    O programa tinha um tom grave.‎
    The program had a serious tone.
  4. (archaic, physics) that falls down; that doesn’t float
    O balão não é um corpo grave.‎
    Balloons are not a falling body.
Inflection
Synonyms
Antonyms

Noun

grave f (plural graves)

  1. (music) a low-pitched note

Etymology 2

Verb

grave

  1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of gravar
  2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of gravar
  3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of gravar
  4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of gravar

Spanish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈɣ̞ɾa̠.be̞], [ˈɣ̞ɾa̠.β̞e̞]
  • Homphones: grabe
  • See also: bagre

Etymology 1

From Latin gravis.

Adjective

grave m, f ‎(plural graves)

  1. serious, grave
  2. bass (sound)
  3. solemn
  4. (grammar) stressed in the penultimate syllable; paroxytone
Related terms
Coordinate terms
Synonyms
Antonyms
See also

Etymology 2

Verb

grave

  1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of gravar.
  2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of gravar.
  3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of gravar.
  4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted?) present subjunctive form of gravar.

Anagrams

Swedish

Adjective

grave

  1. absolute definite natural masculine form of grav.

Etymology

From Middle English grave, grafe, from Old English græf ‎(“cave, grave, trench”), from Proto-Germanic *grabą, *grabō ‎(“grave, trench, ditch”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrābʰ- ‎(“to dig, scratch, scrape”). Cognate with West Frisian grêf ‎(“grave”), Dutch graf ‎(“grave”), Low German Graf ‎(“a grave”), Graff, German Grab ‎(“grave”), Danish and Swedish grav ‎(“grave”), Icelandic gröf ‎(“grave”). Cognate to Albanian gropë ‎(“a ditch, hole”). Related to groove.

Pronunciation

  • enPR: grāv, IPA(key): /ɡreɪv/
  • Rhymes: -eɪv

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