gravity

C1 Topic:Astronomy & Space

US /ˈɡɹævəti/ UK /ˈɡɹævɪti/ See IPA manual

Freq #4160

Meanings

1

noun
The natural force that pulls objects toward the earth or toward each other.

Gravity is what makes a dropped apple fall to the ground.
2

noun
Seriousness or importance, especially of a situation.

He did not seem to understand the gravity of the situation.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the natural force that... gravitation

2 noun · seriousness or importance,... seriousness solemnity

Word family

Forms gravities

Derived forms aerogravityanti-gravitybigravitycontragravitycountergravityelectrogravitygravitalgravitationgraviticgraviticsgravitiedgraviton

Related forms grave gravid

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

specific gravity
the density of a substance compared with the density of water

Adjective + noun

Simplified etymology

Gravity entered English in the late Middle Ages and comes from Latin gravis, “heavy,” a word that could also mean “serious.”

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gʷreh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-us Proto-Indo-European *gʷréh₂us Proto-Italic *gʷraus Latin gravis Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-ts Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ts Proto-Italic *-tāts Latin -tās Latin gravitāslbor. French gravitébor. ▲ Latin gravitāslbor. English gravity Borrowed from French gravité (“seriousness, solemnity; severity; (physics) gravity”), or from its etymon Latin gravitās (“heaviness, weight; seriousness; severity”) + English -ity (suffix forming nouns, especially abstract nouns). Gravitās is derived from gravis (“heavy; grave,…

gravité French gravitās Latin *gʷreh₂- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Astronomy & Space Physics Science & Research Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# gravity

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈɡɹævəti/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈɡɹævɪti/
**Frequency rank:** 4160

## Meanings
1. The natural force that pulls objects toward the earth or toward each other.
2. Seriousness or importance, especially of a situation.

## Examples
- Gravity is what makes a dropped apple fall to the ground.
- He did not seem to understand the gravity of the situation.

## Derived Forms
- aerogravity
- anti-gravity
- bigravity
- contragravity
- countergravity
- electrogravity
- gravital
- gravitation
- gravitic
- gravitics
- gravitied
- graviton

## Related Forms
- grave
- gravid

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: gravité
- Root: gravitās
- Root: *gʷreh₂-

## Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gʷreh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-us Proto-Indo-European *gʷréh₂us Proto-Italic *gʷraus Latin gravis Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-ts Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ts Proto-Italic *-tāts Latin -tās Latin gravitāslbor. French gravitébor. ▲ Latin gravitāslbor. English gravity Borrowed from French gravité (“seriousness, solemnity; severity; (physics) gravity”), or from its etymon Latin gravitās (“heaviness, weight; seriousness; severity”) + English -ity (suffix forming nouns, especially abstract nouns). Gravitās is derived from gravis (“heavy; grave,…

## AI Etymology
Gravity is borrowed from French gravité (“seriousness, solemnity; severity; (physics) gravity”), or from its etymon Latin gravitās (“heaviness, weight; seriousness; severity”) + English -ity (suffix forming nouns, especially abstract nouns). Gravitās is derived from gravis (“heavy;. The historical chain includes gravité (French), gravitās (Latin), and *gʷreh₂- (Proto-Indo-European). The surrounding word family includes derived forms such as aerogravity, anti-gravity, bigravity, and contragravity and related forms such as grave and gravid. In present use it covers the natural force that pulls objects toward the earth or toward each other and seriousness or importance, especially of a situation.

## Topics
- Astronomy & Space
- Physics
- Science & Research
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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