gravity
Part of speech: noun
Morphological type: derivation
Topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
physics
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”), equivalent to grave (“serious”) + -ity (suffix forming nouns, especially abstract nouns). Gravitās is derived from gravis (“heavy; grave, serious”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷreh₂- (“heavy”)) + -tās (suffix forming feminine abstract nouns indicating states of being). The English word was first used figuratively, and gained the senses relating to physical qualities in the 17th century. Doublet of gravitas.
Base: grave
Affixes: -ity
Inflected forms:
form: gravities
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: Senses relating to seriousness.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: Page. Yonder is a moſt reuerend Gentleman; vvho (be-like) hauing receiued vvrong by ſome perſon, is at moſt odds vvith his ovvne grauity and patience, that euer you ſavv. / [Robert] Shal[low]. I haue liued foure-ſcore yeeres, and vpvvard: I neuer heard a man of his place, grauity, and learning, ſo vvide of his ovvne reſpect.
[Y]ou ſhould ſee all thoſe grand cenſors, that novv ſtile them [plays] ſuch vanities, flock to them for the maine grace of their grauities: […]
Gravity is the ballaſt of the ſoul, vvhich keeps the mind ſteddy. It is either true, or counterfeit.
I went to compliment the Dutchesse of Grafton [Isabella FitzRoy, Duchess of Grafton], now laying-in of her first child, a sonn [Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton], which she call'd for, that I might see it. […] She discours'd with me of many particulars, with greate prudence and gravity beyond her yeares.
Gravity often paſſes for VViſdom, VVit for Ability; […]
[T]he art, order, and gravity of thoſe Proceedings [of the Star Chamber] (vvhere ſhort, ſevere, conſtant rules vvere ſet, and ſmartly purſued, and the party felt only the vveight of the Judgement, not the paſſion of his Judges) made them leſs taken notice of, and ſo leſs grievous to the Publick, though as intolerable to the Perſon: […]
[I]nimitable, solemn Hepworth, from whose gravity [Isaac] Newton might have deduced the law of gravitation.
Captain Bonneville sat smoking his pipe, and listening to them with Indian silence and gravity.
The gravity and pomp of the whole proceeding made a deep impression even on the Nuncio, accustomed as he was to the ceremonies of Rome, ceremonies which, in solemnity and splendour, exceed all that the rest of the world can show.
Nothing could be more trite or commonplace than his [Edward Dubois] serious observations. Acquiescences they should rather have been called; for he seldom ventured upon a gravity, but in echo of another's remark.
All confided in his integrity; while the decorum and gravity of his demeanor combined with the more substantial qualities of his character to inspire a general feeling of reverence in the people.
But she grew uneasy at the settled gravity of his face, and the joy gradually died off her own.
gloss: Senses relating to seriousness.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: I hope you appreciate the gravity of the situation.
The iudges parte is to ſée that the puniſhemente paſſe not the grauitie of the offence.
[B]y that lavve [among the Græcians] it vvas agreed, that he vvhich being ouercome vvith drinke did then ſtrike anye man, ſhoulde ſuffer puniſhment double as much as if hee had done the ſame being ſober. No man coulde euer haue thought this reaſonable that had intended thereby onely to puniſh the iniury committed, according to the grauitie of the fact.
[W]e look'd for the diſcharge of his Office, the payment of his dutie to the Kingdom, and are payd Court payment vvith empty ſentences, that have the ſound of gravity, but the ſignificance of nothing pertinent.
The vviſe vvill determine from the gravity of the caſe; the irritable from ſenſibility to oppreſſion; the high-minded from diſdain and indignation at abuſive povver in unvvorthy hands; the brave and bold from the love of honourable danger in a generous cauſe: […]
[T]he gravity of the situation which confronts the world today necessitates my appearance before a joint session of the Congress. The foreign policy and the national security of this country are involved. […] The very existence of the Greek state is today threatened by the terrorist activities of several thousand armed men, led by Communists, who defy the Government's authority at a number of points, particularly along the northern boundaries.
[R]egardless of the amount of the fee that I might pay, a percentage as estimated will be used to support issues to which I object. […] Since I believe that abortion is absolutely wrong I must choose the course that minimizes the support of it. The gravity of this issue is so great that I must consider my job expendable.
Could the month's poor performance in these two sectors reveal the true gravity of the labor market's woes? [subtitle]
gloss: Senses relating to seriousness.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
uncountable
examples: [T]ho' Guicciardin [Francesco Guicciardini] miſtakes in thoſe Points, vve may ſafely venture to depend on all the reſt of the Circumſtances as true Hiſtory: VVhy elſe ſhould they be mentioned by a Hiſtoriographer of ſuch Gravity?
The principal officers of the empire vvere ſaluted, even by the ſovereign himſelf, vvith the deceitful titles of your Sincerity, your Gravity, your Excellency, your Eminence, your ſublime and vvonderful Magnitude, your illuſtrious and magnificent Highneſs.
gloss: Senses relating to physical qualities.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
gloss: Senses relating to physical qualities.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: Aristotelian gravity Newtonian gravity
[T]his Gravity, the great Baſis of all Mechaniſm, is not it ſelf Mechanical; but the immediate Fiat and Finger of God, […] [N]o Compound Body in the viſible vvorld can ſubſiſt and continue vvithout Gravity, and Gravity do immediately flovv from a Divine Povver and Energy; […]
[I]f I vvere to explain the motion of a body falling to the ground, I vvould ſay it vvas cauſed by gravity, and I vvould endeavour to ſhevv after vvhat manner this povver operated, vvithout attempting to ſhevv vvhy it operated in this manner; […]
Do you know that gravity is pulling at you, tugging at you, trying to drag you down, from the moment you awake in the morning till you tumble into bed at night?
Some of the most beautiful and thus appealing physical theories, including quantum electrodynamics and quantum gravity, have been dogged for decades by infinities that erupt when theorists try to prod their calculations into new domains. Getting rid of these nagging infinities has probably occupied far more effort than was spent in originating the theories.
It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in a basket [of a balloon]: perhaps out of a desire to escape the gravity of this world or to get a preview of the next; […]
gloss: Senses relating to physical qualities.
pos: noun
tags: countable
dated
gloss: Senses relating to physical qualities.
pos: noun
tags: dated
uncountable
examples: Thus one generation is alvvays the ſcorn and vvonder of the other; and the notions of the old and young are like liquors of different gravity and texture, vvhich can never unite.
gloss: Senses relating to physical qualities.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
uncountable
examples: […] Similitude of Subſtance vvill cauſe Attraction, vvhere the Body is vvholly freed from the Motion of Grauitie: For if that vvere taken avvay, Lead vvould dravv Lead, and Gold vvould dravv Gold, and Iron vvould dravv Iron, vvithout the helpe of the Load-Stone. But this ſame Motion of VVeight or Grauitie, […] doth kill the other Motion, except it ſelfe be killed by a violent Motion; […]
[I]t is not impoſſible (though hardly feiſible) by a ſingle Loadſtone to ſuſpend an iron in the ayre, the iron being artificially placed, and at a diſtance guided tovvards the ſtone, untill it find the nevvtrall point vvherein its gravity juſt equalls the magneticall quality, the on exactly extolling as much as the other depreſſeth; […]
Heaven hath neither gravity nor levity; this is manifeſt from its motion vvhich is circular; not from the center vvhich is proper to light things; nor to the center, as is proper to heavy, but about the center.
[The Earth] muſt perſevere in Motion, unleſs obſtructed by a Miracle. Neither can Gravity, vvhich makes great bodies hard of Remove, be any hindrance to the Earths motion: ſince even the Peripatetick Maxime, Nihil gravitat in ſuo loco [nothing weighs in its place], vvill exempt it from this indiſposing quality; vvhich is nothing but the tendency of its parts, vvhich are raviſh't from it, to their deſired Centre.
[…] Gravity is an Intrinſecal Quality by vvhich a Body ſo qualified deſcendeth perpendicularly tovvards the Superfices of the Earth.
gloss: Senses relating to physical qualities.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
rare
uncountable
examples: [T]he learned authors of this vvorld ſay that about thirty yeares, man is in his full ſtate, and from that time, hee declineth to an age of more grauity and decay: […]
Related words: grave
gravid
Derived words: acceleration of gravity
aerogravity
anti-gravity
anti-gravity lean
API gravity
bigravity
center of gravity
contragravity
countergravity
electrogravity
gravital
gravitation
gravitic
gravitics
gravitied
graviton
gravity assist
gravity bomb
gravity bong
gravity boots
gravity brightened
gravity-brightening
gravity brightening
gravity cell
gravity dam
gravity-darkened
gravity-darkening
gravity darkening
gravity drag
gravity drop
gravity gun
gravity hill
gravity knife
gravityless
gravity meter
gravity racer
gravity slingshot
gravity sport
gravity's pull
gravity suit
gravity tank
gravity train
gravity turn
gravity wave
gravity well
gravity wind
hypergravity
hypogravity
infragravity
isogravity
loop quantum gravity
microgravity
milligravity
nongravity
normogravity
paragravity
pseudogravity
quantum gravity
specific gravity bottle
standard gravity
supergravity
surface gravity
ungravity
zero gravity
Translations: