- The definition of grave is something that is serious or taken seriously or doing something in a solemn or sedate manner.
- An example of grave is when you have a terminal disease.
- An example of grave is when you have a serious look on your face.
- Grave is defined as a location where a dead body is buried in the ground or a place where something that is broken is lying.
- An example of grave is a location in a cemetery where a dead person is buried and where a stone memorializes him.
- An example of grave is when a boat sinks.
- requiring serious thought; important; weighty: grave doubts
- not light or trifling in nature or in consequence; grievous: a grave sin
- seriously threatening health, well-being, or life; critical; dangerous: a grave illness
- seriously contrary to what is right or desirable; extremely bad: a grave fault
- Theol. so evil as to cause spiritual death; mortal: a grave sin
- dignified and solemn or sedate in manner or mien
- somber; dull: grave colors
- low or deep in pitch
Origin of graveFrench ; from Classical Latin gravis, heavy, weighty ; from Indo-European base an unverified form gwer-, heavy, mill from source quern, Classical Greek barys, heavy, Sanskrit gurúh, grave
- a hole in the ground in which to bury a dead body
- any place of burial; tomb
- final end or death; extinction
Origin of graveMiddle English ; from Old English græf (akin to Old Frisian gref, German grab) ; from base of grafan, to dig: see gravethe
have one foot in the grave
make someone turn (over) in his (or her) grave
Origin of graveItalian
- a. An excavation for the interment of a corpse.b. A place of burial.
- Death or extinction: faced the grave with calm resignation.
Origin of graveMiddle English, from Old English græf; see ghrebh-2 in Indo-European roots.
- Requiring serious thought; momentous: a grave decision in a time of crisis.
- Fraught with danger or harm: a grave wound.
- Dignified and somber in conduct or character: a grave procession. See Synonyms at serious.
- Somber or dark in hue.
- Linguistics a. Written with or modified by the mark (&thin;`&thin;), as the è in Sèvres.b. Of or referring to a phonetic feature that distinguishes sounds produced at the periphery of the vocal tract, as in labial and velar consonants and back vowels.
Origin of graveFrench, from Old French, from Latin gravis; see gwer&schwa;-1 in Indo-European roots.
transitive verbgraved graved, grav·en or graved, grav·ing, graves
- To sculpt or carve; engrave.
- To stamp or impress deeply; fix permanently.
Origin of graveMiddle English graven, from Old English grafan; see ghrebh-2 in Indo-European roots.
transitive verbgraved graved, grav·ing, graves
Origin of graveMiddle English graven.
Origin of graveItalian, from Latin gravis, heavy; see grave2.
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 Dutch graf (“a grave”), Low German graf (“a grave”), German Grab (“a grave”), Swedish grav (“a grave”), Icelandic gröf (“a grave”). Cognate to Albanian gropë (“a ditch, hole”). Related to groove.
(third-person singular simple present graves, present participle graving, simple past graved or grove, past participle graved or graven)
- 1872, James De Mille, The Cryptogram, edition HTML, The Gutenberg Project, published 2009:
- Deep lines were graven on her pale forehead, and on her wan, thin cheeks.
- Robert Louis Stevenson, Requiem:
- This be the verse you grave for me / "Here he lies where he longs to be"
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 *gʰrābʰ- (“to dig, scratch, scrape”). Cognate with Dutch graven (“to dig”), German graben (“to dig”), Swedish gräva (“to dig”).
(comparative graver, superlative gravest)
- A written accent used in French, Italian, and other languages. è is an e with a grave accent.
Old Low German grēve