From Proto-Germanic*grabą, *grabō(“grave, trench, ditch”), from Proto-Indo-European*gʰrābʰ-(“to dig, scratch, scrape”). Compare Old English græf (English grave), Old Saxon graf (Low German Graf, Graff), Dutch graf, Old High German grap (German Grab), Old Norse grǫf (Danish grav, Icelandic gröf), Gothic graba(graba).