Etymograph

English

gravitation

Gravitation comes from Latin gravitō ‘to gravitate, to fall under the influence of…’, from gravis ‘heavy’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷreh₂-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷreh₂-1‘heavy’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷréh₂us1‘heavy’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gʷraus1‘heavy’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgravis1‘heavy’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgravitō1‘to gravitate, to fall under the influence of gravity’
  6. New Latinmoderngravitātiō1
  7. Englishtodaygravitation1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English gravitation

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷreh₂-Wiktionary, English gravitation‘heavy’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷréh₂usWiktionary, English gravitation‘heavy’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gʷrausWiktionary, English gravitation‘heavy’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgravisWiktionary, English gravitation‘heavy’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgravitōWiktionary, English gravitation‘to gravitate, to fall under the influence of gravity’
  6. New LatinmoderngravitātiōWiktionary, English gravitation
  7. EnglishtodaygravitationWiktionary, English gravitation

Linked words

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

bar, guru, brigadier, brio, brigand, aggravation, 20 more

through Proto-Indo-European *gʷréh₂us ‘heavy’

brutal, brute, brut, barite, baryon, 17 more

through Latin gravis ‘heavy’

grief, grave, grieve, grievous, grievance, aggravate, 13 more

Today it means

noun The fundamental force of attraction which exists between all matter in the universe that tends to draw bodies towards each other, due to matter causing the curvature of spacetime. It is the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, and possesses a gauge boson known as the graviton.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “gravitation”. 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- / gravitation

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