Etymograph

English

gravigrade

Gravigrade comes from Latin gravis ‘heavy’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *gʷreh₂-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷreh₂-1‘heavy’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷréh₂us2‘heavy’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gʷraus2‘heavy’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgravis3‘heavy’
  5. Englishtodaygravigrade3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *gʷréh₂us
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin gravis
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English gravigrade

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷreh₂-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *gʷréh₂us‘heavy’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷréh₂usWiktionary, Latin gravis‘heavy’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gʷrausWiktionary, Latin gravis‘heavy’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgravisWiktionary, English gravigrade‘heavy’
  5. EnglishtodaygravigradeWiktionary, English gravigrade

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gʷreh₂- ‘heavy’

bar, guru, brigadier, brio, aggravation, gravitate, brigand, 18 more

through Proto-Indo-European *gʷréh₂us ‘heavy’

brutal, brute, brut, barite, baryon, 16 more

through Latin gravis ‘heavy’

grief, grave, grieve, grievous, grievance, aggravate, gravitation, 12 more

Today it means

adj slow-paced

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “gravigrade”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *gʷréh₂us, Latin gravis. 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- / gravigrade

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