gravamen legal definition
Legal Definition Gravamen (from Lat. gravare, to weigh down; gravis, heavy), (plural graÂ·vaÂ·mens or graÂ·vamÂ·iÂ·na), a complaint or grievance, the ground of a legal action, and particularly the more serious part of a charge against an accused person. In legal terms, the essential element of a lawsuit. In English the term is used chiefly in legal submissions and judicial opinions. The word is commonly misspelled gravaman. Apart from the normal usage of the word, the gravamen test is used in contract law to distinguish between the sale of goods and services in hybrid transactions.