English
aggravation
Aggravation comes from Middle French aggravation, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *gʷreh₂- ‘heavy’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷreh₂-1‘heavy’root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600aggravation1
- Englishearliest quotation 1826aggravation1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English aggravation
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1826, Mary Shelley, London: Henry Colburn: “Adrian, whose health had always been weak, now suffered…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷreh₂-Wiktionary, English aggravation‘heavy’root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600aggravationWiktionary, English aggravation
- Englishearliest quotation 1826aggravationWiktionary, English aggravation. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1826, Mary Shelley, London: Henry Colburn: “Adrian, whose health had always been weak, now suffered…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gʷreh₂- ‘heavy’
bar, brutal, grief, guru, grave, gravity, brute, brigadier, grieve, grievous, grievance, brut, gravitate, brio, barite, brigand, gravitas, baryon, gravitation, 18 more
Today it means
noun The act of aggravating, or making worse; used of evils, natural or moral; the act of increasing in severity or heinousness; something additional to a crime or wrong and enhancing its guilt or injurious consequences.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “aggravation”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gʷreh₂- / aggravation