English
gravaminous
Gravaminous comes from Latin gravāmen ‘burden, heaviness’, from gravis ‘heavy’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷreh₂-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷreh₂-1‘heavy’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷréh₂us1‘heavy’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gʷraus1‘heavy’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgravis1‘heavy’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgravō1‘to burden, weigh down, oppress’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgravāmen2‘burden, heaviness’
- Englishtodaygravaminous2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin gravamen
- 2 Wiktionary, English gravaminous
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷreh₂-Wiktionary, Latin gravamen‘heavy’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷréh₂usWiktionary, Latin gravamen‘heavy’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gʷrausWiktionary, Latin gravamen‘heavy’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgravisWiktionary, Latin gravamen‘heavy’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgravōWiktionary, Latin gravamen‘to burden, weigh down, oppress’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgravāmenWiktionary, English gravaminous‘burden, heaviness’
- EnglishtodaygravaminousWiktionary, English gravaminous
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gʷreh₂- ‘heavy’
bar, guru, brigadier, gravitate, brio, aggravation, brigand, 16 more
through Proto-Indo-European *gʷréh₂us ‘heavy’
brutal, brute, brut, barite, baryon, 14 more
through Latin gravis ‘heavy’
grief, grave, gravity, gravitation, gravitas, 10 more
through Latin gravō ‘to burden, weigh down, oppress’
Today it means
adj Serious; grave.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “gravaminous”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin gravamen. 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- / gravaminous