grave adj

1 dignified and somber in manner or character and committed to keeping promises; "a grave God-fearing man"; "a quiet sedate nature"; "as sober as a judge"; "a solemn promise"; "the judge was solemn as he pronounced sentence" [syn: sedate, sober, solemn]

2 causing fear or anxiety by threatening great harm; "a dangerous operation"; "a grave situation"; "a grave illness"; "grievous bodily harm"; "a serious wound"; "a serious turn of events"; "a severe case of pneumonia"; "a life-threatening disease" [syn: dangerous, grievous, serious, severe, life-threatening]

3 of great gravity or crucial import; requiring serious thought; "grave responsibilities"; "faced a grave decision in a time of crisis"; "a grievous fault"; "heavy matters of state"; "the weighty matters to be discussed at the peace conference" [syn: grievous, heavy, weighty]

1 death of a person; "he went to his grave without forgiving me"; "from cradle to grave"

2 a place for the burial of a corpse (especially beneath the ground and marked by a tombstone); "he put flowers on his mother's grave" [syn: tomb]

3 a mark (`) placed above a vowel to indicate pronunciation [syn: grave accent]

1 shape (a material like stone or wood) by whittling away at it; "She is sculpting the block of marble into an image of her husband" [syn: sculpt, sculpture]

2 carve, cut, or etch into a material or surface; "engrave a pen"; "engraved the winner's name onto the trophy cup" [syn: engrave, inscribe] [also: graven]

English

Pronunciation

• , /ɡreɪv/, /greIv/
• Rhymes with: -eɪv

Etymology 1

Ultimately from gravis

Adjective

1. Of great weight; heavy; ponderous.

   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. Not acute or sharp; low; deep; -- said of sound; as, a grave note or key.

   The thicker the cord or string, the more grave is the note or tone. —Moore (Encyc. of Music).

5. Slow and solemn in movement.

. (pronunciation) See the Note under Accent, n., 2.

Usage notes

, , , 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 grave remark; grave attire. Solemn is applied to a case in which gravity is carried to its highest point; as, a solemn admonition; a solemn promise.

Synonyms

• solemn
• sober
• serious
• sage
• staid
• demure
• thoughtful
• sedate
• weighty
• momentous
• important

Noun

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

Translations

Etymology 2

grafan

Verb

1. To dig. (Obs.) Chaucer.

   He hath graven and digged up a pit. —Ps. VII 16 (Book of 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.

   This be the verse you grave for me / “Here he lies where he longs to be” — Stevenson, Requiem

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.

6. In the context of "transitive|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.
7. To write or delineate on hard substances, by means of incised lines; to practice engraving.

Etymology 3

græf

Noun

1. An excavation in the earth as a place of burial; also, any place of interment; a tomb; a sepulcher. Hence: Death; destruction.

   He had lain in the grave four days. —John XI.,17.

Translations

Danish

Etymology

Old Norse grafa

Verb

grave

1. To dig

Esperanto

Adverb

1. seriously, gravely

French

Etymology

Latin gravis

Pronunciation

Adjective

fr-noun s

1. serious
2. solemn

Related terms

• gravement
• gravissime
• gravitation
• gravité

Verb form

grave

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

Italian

Etymology

Latin gravis

Adjective

1. Grave, serious
2. heavy
3. solemn

Synonyms

• importante
• pesante
• austero
• serio

Antonyms

• acuto

Related terms

• gravemente
• gravare
• gravezza
• gravità

Spanish

Etymology

Latin gravis

Adjective

1. serious, grave
2. low (sound)
3. solemn

Related terms

• gravedad
• gravitar

Verb form

grave

1. first-, third-person singular subjunctive present of gravar
2. third-person singular imperative of gravar

Grave may refer to:

• Grave (burial)
• Grave accent
• Grave (phonetic)
• Grave, Netherlands

Grave might also refer to:

• Dmitry Grave, a Russian mathematician
• Ivan Grave, a Russian scientist
• Grave (band), a Swedish death metal band
• "Grave" (Buffy episode), the final episode of the sixth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• Grave (mass), original name for kilogram
• In the list of strange units of measurement, runner-up to the word kilogram
• Gungrave
• Graves-Basedow disease
• Graves, a wine region of Bordeaux
• Cognate of German Graf, as in margrave

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