English

Noun

greave ‎(plural greaves)

1. (obsolete) A bush; a tree; a grove.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Spenser to this entry?)

2. (obsolete) A bough; a branch.

Etymology 2

From Middle English greve, greyve, from Old English grǣfa, grēfa ‎(“pit, cave, hole, grave, trench”), from Proto-Germanic *grōbō ‎(“pit, ditch”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ- ‎(“to dig, scratch, scrape”). Cognate with North Frisian groop ‎(“pit, sewer, gutter”), Dutch groef ‎(“pit, hole, gutter”), German Grube ‎(“pit, hole”), Icelandic gröf ‎(“pit, grave”).

Noun

greave ‎(plural greaves)

1. (obsolete) A ditch or trench.

Etymology 3

From Middle English greve, grayve, from Old French greve ‎(“shin”), of uncertain origin; possibly from Egyptian Arabic جورب ‎(“stocking, leg cover”).

Alternative forms

• greeve

Noun

greave ‎(plural greaves)

1. A piece of armour that protects the leg, especially the shin.

• For usage examples of this term, see Citations:greave.

Translations

Etymology 4

From greaves ‎(“residue left after animal fat has been rendered”).

Verb

greave ‎(third-person singular simple present greaves, present participle greaving, simple past and past participle greaved)

1. (nautical, transitive) To clean (a ship's bottom); to grave.

See also

• greaves ‎(“residue left after animal fat has been rendered”)

Anagrams

• regave

References

• Klein, A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language