# grave
## English
### Pronunciation

* enPR: grāv, IPA: /ɡɹeɪv/
** Audio (US):(file)
** Rhymes: -eɪv
* (accent, also): IPA: /ɡɹɑːv/
** Rhymes: -ɑːv

### Etymology 1

From Middle English grave, grafe, from Old English græf, grafu (“cave, grave, trench”), from Proto-West Germanic *grab, from Proto-Germanic *grabą, *grabō (“grave, trench, ditch”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ- (“to dig, scratch, scrape”). Cognate with West Frisian grêf (“grave”), Dutch graf (“grave”), Low German Graf (“a grave”), Graff, German Grab (“grave”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian grav (“grave”), Icelandic gröf (“grave”). Related to groove.

#### Noun

grave (countable and uncountable, plural graves)
* (strictly) An excavation in the earth as a place of burial.
    Synonyms: plot; see also Thesaurus:grave
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, John 11:17:He had lain in the grave four days.
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 31:17:Let mee not be ashamed, O Lord, for I haue called vpon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the graue.
** 1856, Gustave Flaubert, translated by Eleanor Marx-Aveling, Madame Bovary, Part III, Chapter X:They reached the cemetery. The men went right down to a place in the grass where a grave was dug. They ranged themselves all round; and while the priest spoke, the red soil thrown up at the sides kept noiselessly slipping down at the corners.
* (loosely) Any place of interment; a tomb; a sepulcher.
* (very loosely) Any place containing one or more corpses.
* (uncountable, by extension) Death, destruction.
** a. 1769, unknown, The Cuckoo‎, archived from the original on 26 September 2019, lines 9–12:[…] Meeting is pleasure, parting is a grief; / An inconstant lover is worse than a thief; / A thief can but rob you, and take all you have, / An inconstant lover will bring you to the grave! […]
** 1973, “Breathe”, in Roger Waters (lyrics), David Gilmour and Richard Wright (music), The Dark Side of the Moon, performed by Pink Floyd:[…] balanced on the biggest wave you race towards an early grave.
* (by extension, uncountable) Deceased people; the dead.
** 1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:"Hold your jaw, woman! I've had enough to vex me to-day without you startin' your tantrums. You're jealous of the grave. That's wot's the matter with you." "And her brats can insult me as they like - me that 'as cared for you these five years."

##### Derived terms

* begrave
* beyond the grave
* common grave
* cradle-to-grave
* dance on someone's grave
* dig one's grave with a fork
* dig one's grave with a fork and spoon
* dig one's own grave
* follow to the grave
* from cradle to grave
* from the cradle to the grave
* gravebound
* grave candle
* graveclothes
* gravedance
* grave dancer
* gravedancer
* grave dancing
* grave-dancy
* grave digger
* gravedigger
* gravedigging
* gravedom
* graveful
* grave-good
* grave good
* grave goods
* grave-goods
* gravekeeper
* grave lantern
* graveless
* gravelike
* grave marker
* gravemound
* grave-rob
* grave robber
* graverobber
* grave-robbing
* graverobbing
* graveside
* gravesite
* gravesome
* gravestead
* gravestone
* graveward
* gravewards
* grave wax
* graveyard
* have one foot in the grave
* ingrave
* mass grave
* passage grave
* pauper's grave
* quiet as a grave
* roll in one's grave
* roll over in one's grave
* silent as a grave
* silent as the grave
* spin in one's grave
* take someone to the grave
* take something to one's grave
* take something to the grave
* take to the grave
* turn in one's grave
* turn over in one's grave
* ungrave
* war grave
* watery grave
* white man's grave

##### Related terms

* groove

##### Descendants

* Sranan Tongo: grebi
** Aukan: geebi

##### See also

* grave (burial) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

### Etymology 2

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 *gʰrebʰ- (“to dig, scratch, scrape”). Cognate with Dutch graven (“to dig”), German graben (“to dig”), Danish grave (“to dig”), Swedish gräva (“to dig”), Icelandic grafa (“to dig”).

#### Verb

grave (third-person singular simple present graves, present participle graving, simple past graved, past participle graved or graven)
* (transitive, obsolete) To dig.
** 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, vij:[16]:He hath graven and digged up a pit.
* (intransitive, obsolete) To carve or cut, as letters or figures, on some hard substance; to engrave.
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 28:9:Thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel.
** 1872, James De Mille, The Cryptogram‎, HTML edition, The Gutenberg Project, published 2009:Deep lines were graven on her pale forehead, and on her wan, thin cheeks.
** a. 1894, Robert Louis Stevenson, "Requiem"
    This be the verse you grave for me / "Here he lies where he longs to be"
** 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:'It may be so,' I answered; 'but if the loved one prove a broken reed to pierce us, or if the love be loved in vain - what then? Shall a man grave his sorrows upon a stone when he hath but need to write them on the water?'
* (transitive, obsolete) To carve out or give shape to, by cutting with a chisel; to sculpture.
    to grave an image
* (intransitive, obsolete) To impress deeply (on the mind); to fix indelibly.
** 1718, Mat[thew] Prior, “Solomon on the Vanity of the World. A Poem in Three Books.”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], and John Barber […], →OCLC, (please specify the page):O! may they graven in thy heart remain.
* (transitive, obsolete) To entomb; to bury.
** 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:[…] And lie full low, graved in the hollow ground.
* (intransitive, obsolete) To write or delineate on hard substances, by means of incised lines; to practice engraving.

##### Related terms

* begrave
* engrave
* engraven

##### Translations
### Etymology 3

From Middle French grave, a learned borrowing from Latin gravis (“heavy, important”). Compare Old French greve (“terrible, dreadful”). Doublet of grief.

#### Adjective

grave (comparative graver, superlative gravest)
* Characterised by a dignified sense of seriousness; not cheerful. [from 16th c.]
    Synonyms: austere, solemn, sombre; see also Thesaurus:serious
** c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:[Mercuti] Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man.
* Low in pitch, tone etc. [from 17th c.]
    Antonyms: acute, deep, flat, low-pitched
** 1854, John Weeks Moore, Encyclopedia of Music:The thicker the cord or string, the more grave is the note or tone.
* Serious, in a negative sense; important, formidable. [from 19th c.]
    Synonyms: serious, momentous, important; see also Thesaurus:important
** 2016 February 6, James Zogby, “Israel’s prickliness blocks the long quest for peace”, in The National‎:Israel’s behaviour is doing grave damage to the Palestinian people and to any hope for peace.
** 2017, Vladimir Shlapentokh, A Normal Totalitarian Society, page 80:Khrushchev made a grave miscalculation when he failed to appreciate the growing opposition to his power and overestimated the support of his bureaucracy.
* (phonology, dated, of a sound) Dull, produced in the middle or back of the mouth. (See Grave and acute on Wikipedia.Wikipedia )
    Coordinate term: acute
* (obsolete) Influential, important; authoritative. [16th–18th c.]
    Synonyms: magisterial, masterful, oracular, sterling
** 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition II, section 3, member 7:An illiterate fool sits in a mans seat; and the common people hold him learned, grave, and wise.

##### Derived terms

* grave as a judge
* graveness
* ungravely

##### Translations
#### Noun

grave (plural graves)
* A grave accent.

##### Translations
### Etymology 4

Inherited from Middle English greyve. Doublet of graaf (borrowed from the Dutch cognate graaf (“count, earl”)) and graf (borrowed from the German cognate Graf (“count, earl”)).

#### Noun

grave (plural graves)
* (historical) A count, prefect, or person holding office.

##### Related terms

* burgrave
* landgrave
* margrave
* palsgrave
* waldgrave

### Etymology 5
#### Verb

grave (third-person singular simple present graves, present participle graving, simple past and past participle graved)
* (transitive, obsolete, 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.

##### Related terms

* graving dock

### Anagrams

* Gaver

## Danish
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɡraːvə/, [ˈɡ̊ʁɑːvə]

### Etymology 1

From Italian grave, from Latin gravis (“heavy, grave”).

#### Adverb

grave
* (music) grave (low in pitch, tone etc.)
* accent grave – accent grave, grave accent

### Etymology 2

From Old Norse grafa (“to dig, bury”), from Proto-Germanic *grabaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrābʰ- (“to dig, scratch, scrape”).

#### Verb

grave (imperative grav, infinitive at grave, present tense graver, past tense gravede, perfect tense har gravet)
* dig (to move hard-packed earth out of the way)

##### Derived terms

* begrave
* graver
* gravning
* guldgravning
* opgrave
* udgrave
* udgravning
* undergrave

### Etymology 3

See grav (“grave, tomb, pit”).

#### Noun

grave c
* indefinite plural of grav

## Dutch
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈɣraː.və/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: gra‧ve
* Rhymes: -aːvə
* Homophone: Grave

### Verb

grave
* (dated or formal) singular present subjunctive of graven

### Anagrams

* verga, vrage

## Esperanto
### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈɡrave]
* Rhymes: -ave
* Hyphenation: gra‧ve

### Adverb

grave
* seriously, gravely

## French
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɡʁav/
* Audio:(file)

### Etymology 1

Inherited from Middle French grave, borrowed from Latin gravis. Doublet of grief.

#### Adjective

grave (plural graves)
* serious
* solemn
* low-pitched
    Antonym: aigu
* (phonetics) back
** 1911 April, “Quelques mots sur la pronunciation des lettres Turques”, in Dictionnaire turc-français:Quatre de ces voyelles sont graves: a, o, u, œu.Four of these are vowels are back [vowels], a, o, u, [and] œu

##### Derived terms

* accent grave
* gravement
* l’heure est grave

##### Related terms

* gravissime
* gravitation
* gravité

##### Descendants

* → Norwegian Bokmål: grave

#### Adverb

grave
* (informal, slang) much; a lot
    Je te kiffe grave !I love you like crazy!

### Etymology 2
#### Verb

grave
* inflection of graver:
** first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
** second-person singular imperative

### Further reading

* “grave”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

### Anagrams

* gaver

## Italian
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin gravis. Doublet of greve.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈɡra.ve/
* Rhymes: -ave
* Hyphenation: grà‧ve

### Adjective

grave (plural gravi, superlative gravissimo)
* grave, serious
    un grave problemaa serious problem
* heavy
* solemn
* (music) low-pitched, low-pitch

#### Synonyms

* importante
* pesante
* austero
* serio

#### Antonyms

* acuto

#### Related terms

* gravemente
* gravare
* gravezza
* gravità
* gravoso

#### Descendants

* → Danish: grave

### Anagrams

* Verga, verga

## Latin
### Adjective

grave
* nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular of gravis

### References

* "grave", in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
* "grave", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
* "grave", in The Perseus Project (1999) Perseus Encyclopedia‎

## Middle English
### Etymology 1

From the dative of Old English græf, from Proto-West Germanic *grab, from Proto-Germanic *grabą.

#### Alternative forms

* graf, grafe, graffe, grawe

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈɡraːv(ə)/, /ˈɡrav(ə)/, /ˈɡraf/

#### Noun

grave (plural graves)
* grave, burial
* tomb, mausoleum

##### Derived terms

* graven
* graveston

##### Descendants

* English: grave
* Scots: grave, grawe, graive, graiwe, greawe

##### References

* “grāve, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-09.

### Etymology 2
#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈɡraːvɛi̯/, /ˈɡraːveː/

#### Noun

grave (plural graves)
* Alternative form of gravey

### Etymology 3
#### Noun

grave
* (Late Middle English) Alternative form of greyve

### Etymology 4
#### Noun

grave
* (Early Middle English) Alternative form of grove

### Etymology 5
#### Verb

grave
* Alternative form of graven

## Middle French
### Alternative forms

* greve

### Etymology

From Old French grave.

### Noun

grave f (plural graves)
* gravel

#### Descendants

* French: grave
** → Norwegian Bokmål: grave

### References

* Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX$^e$ au XV$^e$ siècle (1881) (grave)

## Middle High German
### Etymology

Inherited from Old High German grāfo, grāvo, grāfio, grāvio (“count, local judge”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (before 13th CE) /ˈɡraːvə/, /ˈɡraːfə/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

grāve m
* count, local judge

#### Derived terms

* burcgrâve
* göugrâve
* marcgrāve

#### Descendants

* German: Graf

### References

* “grâve” Benecke, Georg Friedrich, Wilhelm Müller, and Friedrich Zarncke. Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch: mit benutzung des Nachlasses von Benecke. Vol. 1. S. Hirzel, 1863.

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Etymology 1

From Old Norse grafa, from Proto-Germanic *grabaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrābʰ- (“to dig, scratch, scrape”).

#### Verb

grave (imperative grav, present tense graver, passive graves, simple past gravde or grov, past participle gravd, present participle gravende)
* to dig
    grave ut ― to excavate

### Etymology 2

From French grave (“serious, low-pitched; back”), from Middle French grave, from Old French grave, from Latin gravis (“heavy, grave, serious”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷréh₂us (“heavy”), from *gʷreh₂- (“heavy”) + *-us (forms adjectives).

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈɡrɑːʋ/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -ɑːʋ
* Hyphenation: grave
* Homophone: grav

#### Noun

grave m (definite singular graven, indefinite plural graver, definite plural gravene)
* Only used in accent grave (“grave accent”)

### References

* “grave” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
* “grave” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Verb

grave (present tense grev, past tense grov, past participle grave, passive infinitive gravast, present participle gravande, imperative grav)
* Alternative form of grava

#### Derived terms

* gullgraving
* utgraving

## Old French
### Alternative forms

* greve

### Etymology

Medieval Latin grava, from Gaulish *grawa, *growa, from Proto-Celtic *grāwā, related to Cornish grow (“gravel”), Breton grouan, and Welsh gro (“gravel”); ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰr-eu-d-.

### Noun

grave oblique singular, f (oblique plural graves, nominative singular grave, nominative plural graves)
* gravel

#### Descendants

* Middle French: grave
** French: grave
*** → Norwegian Bokmål: grave
* ⇒ Old French: gravele
** Middle French: gravelle, gravele
** → Middle English: grauel
*** English: gravel

### References

* Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX$^e$ au XV$^e$ siècle (1881) (grave)

## Portuguese
### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /ˈɡɾa.vi/
* (Brazil) IPA: /ˈɡɾa.vi/
** (Southern Brazil) IPA: /ˈɡɾa.ve/
* (Portugal) IPA: /ˈɡɾa.vɨ/
* (Portugal) IPA: /ˈɡɾa.vɨ/
** (Northern Portugal) IPA: /ˈɡɾa.bɨ/ [ˈɡɾa.βɨ]
* Rhymes: (Brazil) -avi, (Portugal) -avɨ
* Hyphenation: gra‧ve

### Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese grave, from Latin gravis (“heavy; grave”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷréh₂us.

#### Adjective

grave m or f (plural graves, comparable, comparative mais grave, superlative o mais grave or gravíssimo)
* serious; grave (having possible severe negative consequences)
    Synonyms: sério, severo
    Sofria de uma doença grave.He suffered from a serious disease.
* (of sound) low-pitched; grave (low in pitch or tone)
    Synonym: baixo
    Antonym: agudo
    O som da tuba é mais grave do que o do trombone.The sound of the tuba has a lower pitch than that of the trombone.
* grave; serious; sombre; austere; solemn (characterised by a dignified sense of seriousness)
    Synonyms: sério, austero, circunspecto, sisudo, solene
    O programa tinha um tom grave.The program had a serious tone.
* (physics) that falls down; that doesn’t float
    O balão não é um corpo grave.Balloons are not a falling body.

##### Derived terms

* gravemente

#### Noun

grave m (plural graves)
* (music) a low-pitched note
* (physics) a body that falls down

### Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

#### Verb

grave
* inflection of gravar:
** first/third-person singular present subjunctive
** third-person singular imperative

## Romanian
### Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Italian grave.

### Adjective

grave
* inflection of grav:
** genitive/dative feminine singular/plural
** nominative/accusative neuter plural

### Adverb

grave
* grave

## Spanish
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈɡɾabe/ [ˈɡɾa.β̞e]
* Rhymes: -abe
* Syllabification: gra‧ve
* Homophone: grabe

### Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Spanish grave, from Latin gravis. Cf. also the attested Old Spanish form grieve, from Early Medieval Latin grevis, which was more common in other Romance-speaking areas.

#### Adjective

grave m or f (masculine and feminine plural graves, superlative gravísimo)
* serious, grave
    Synonym: serio
* bass (sound)
    Synonym: bajo
    Antonym: agudo
* solemn
    Synonym: solemne
* (phonetics) paroxytone; stressed in the penultimate syllable
    Synonym: llano
    Coordinate terms: agudo, esdrújulo, sobresdrújulo

##### Derived terms

* acento grave
* gravemente

##### Related terms

* gravar
* gravedad
* gravitar

##### Descendants

* → Tagalog: grabe

### Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

#### Verb

grave
* inflection of gravar:
** first/third-person singular present subjunctive
** third-person singular imperative

### Further reading

* “grave”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

### References

* ↑ Joan Coromines, José A[ntonio] Pascual (1983–1991) “grave”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico [Critical Castilian and Hispanic Etymological Dictionary] (in Spanish), Madrid: Gredos

### Anagrams

* verga

## Swedish
### Adjective

grave
* definite natural masculine singular of grav

### Anagrams

* avger

## West Frisian
### Etymology

From Old Frisian grava, from Proto-West Germanic *graban, from Proto-Germanic *grabaną.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈɡraːvə/

### Verb

grave
* to dig

#### Further reading

* “grave”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011