Etymograph

English

gravity

Gravity comes, possibly via French gravité, from Latin gravitās ‘weight, heaviness’, from gravis ‘heavy’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷreh₂- ‘heavy’.

  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*gʷraus1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgravis1‘heavy’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgravitās2‘weight, heaviness’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentgravité2‘seriousness; gravity’uncertain
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1533gravity2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin gravitas
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English gravity
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1533, Thomas More, The Debellacyon of Salem and Bizance […]. Chapter XIIII.: “The iudges parte is to ſée that the puniſhemente…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷreh₂-Wiktionary, Latin gravitas‘heavy’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷréh₂usWiktionary, Latin gravitas‘heavy’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gʷrausWiktionary, Latin gravitasreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgravisWiktionary, Latin gravitas‘heavy’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgravitāsWiktionary, English gravity‘weight, heaviness’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentgravitéWiktionary, English gravity‘seriousness; gravity’uncertain
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1533gravityWiktionary, English gravity. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1533, Thomas More, The Debellacyon of Salem and Bizance […]. Chapter XIIII.: “The iudges parte is to ſée that the puniſhemente…”

Formed from grave ‘serious’ + -ity

Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ- ‘to dig, scratch, scrape’

Proto-Germanic *grabą

Proto-West Germanic *grab

Old English græf ‘cave, grave, trench’

Middle English grave ‘grave, burial’

English grave

first attested The English word was first used figuratively, and gained the senses relating to physical qualities in the 17th century (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

The story

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.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

pairs

  • gravity and guru both from Proto-Indo-European *gʷréh₂us ‘heavy’

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

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

through Proto-Indo-European *gʷréh₂us ‘heavy’

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

through Latin gravis ‘heavy’

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

Today it means

noun Of an activity such as a ceremony, a person's conduct, etc.: the quality of being deeply serious and solemn, especially in a dignified manner; seriousness, solemnity; (countable, archaic or obsolete) a serious or solemn thing, such as a matter, a comment, etc.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “gravity”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin gravitas. 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- / gravity

Shirt and support for this word