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in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle English grave , grafe , from Old English græf , grafu ( “ cave, grave, trench ” ) , from Proto-West Germanic *grab , from Proto-Germanic *grabą , *grabō ( “ grave, trench, ditch ” ) , from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ- ( “ to dig, scratch, scrape ” ) . Cognate with West Frisian grêf ( “ grave ” ) , Dutch graf ( “ grave ” ) , Low German Graf ( “ a grave ” ) , Graff , German Grab ( “ grave ” ) , Danish , Swedish and Norwegian grav ( “ grave ” ) , Icelandic gröf ( “ grave ” ) . Related to groove .
Noun
A freshly dug grave
grave (countable and uncountable , plural graves )
( strictly ) An excavation in the earth as a place of burial .
Synonyms: plot ; see also Thesaurus:grave
1856 , Gustave Flaubert , translated by Eleanor Marx-Aveling, Madame Bovary , Part III, Chapter X:They reached the cemetery. The men went right down to a place in the grass where a grave was dug. They ranged themselves all round; and while the priest spoke, the red soil thrown up at the sides kept noiselessly slipping down at the corners.
( loosely ) Any place of interment ; a tomb ; a sepulcher .
( very loosely ) Any place containing one or more corpses .
( uncountable , by extension) Death , destruction .
a. 1769 , unknown, The Cuckoo , lines 9–12 :[ …] Meeting is pleasure, parting is a grief; / An inconstant lover is worse than a thief; / A thief can but rob you, and take all you have, / An inconstant lover will bring you to the grave ! [ …]
( by extension, uncountable ) Deceased people ; the dead .
1925 July – 1926 May , A Conan Doyle , “(please specify the chapter number) ”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia , published April 2019:"Hold your jaw, woman! I've had enough to vex me to-day without you startin' your tantrums. You're jealous of the grave . That's wot's the matter with you." "And her brats can insult me as they like - me that 'as cared for you these five years."
Derived terms
Descendants
Translations
excavation for burial
Abkhaz: адамра ( adamra )
Acehnese: kubu , jeurat
Adyghe: хъэ ( χɛ ) , бэны ( bɛnə )
Afrikaans: graf (af)
Albanian: varr (sq) m
Amharic: መቃብር ( mäḳabr )
Arabic: قَبْر (ar) m ( qabr ) , ضَرِيح m ( ḍarīḥ )
Gulf Arabic: قبر m ( gabir )
Hijazi Arabic: قبر m ( gabur )
Moroccan Arabic: قبر m ( qbar )
Aramaic:
Classical Syriac: ܩܲܒ݂ܪܵܐ m ( qaḇrāʾ )
Turoyo: ܩܰܘܪܳܐ m ( qawro )
Armenian: գերեզման (hy) ( gerezman )
Aromanian: murmintu n , groapã f
Assamese: কবৰ ( kobor )
Asturian: sepultura f , sepoltura f ( Llanes, Colunga, central Asturias, Casu, Ayer, Allande, Riosa ) , cabuercu m , cagüercu m , fuoca f ( Tox ) , güesa f ( Pravia ) , fuosa f ( Tox ) , guosa f ( Tox ) , furaca f ( Palacios del Sil ) , mortera f , poza (ast) f ( Llanes, Oseya de Sayambre, Ayer, Los Argüeyos, Teberga, Mar )
Aukan: geebi
Azerbaijani: məzar , qəbir (az)
Bashkir: ҡәбер ( qəber ) , гүр ( gür )
Belarusian: магі́ла f ( mahíla ) , гроб m ( hrob )
Bengali: কবর (bn) ( kobor ) , সমাধি (bn) ( śomadhi )
Breton: bez (br) m
Bulgarian: гроб (bg) m ( grob )
Burmese: သင်္ချိုင်း (my) ( sanghkyuing: )
Buryat: хүүр ( xüür )
Catalan: sepulcre (ca) m
Chinese:
Cantonese: 墳墓 / 坟墓 ( fan4 mou6 )
Dungan: фын ( fɨn ) , фынкын ( fɨnkɨn )
Eastern Min: 墳墓 / 坟墓 ( hùng-muó )
Hakka: 墳墓 / 坟墓 ( fùn-mu )
Hokkien: 墳墓 / 坟墓 ( phûn-bōng / phûn-bō͘ )
Mandarin: 墳墓 / 坟墓 (zh) ( fénmù )
Wu: 墳墓 / 坟墓 ( 6 ven-mu)
Coptic: ⲃⲏ ( bē )
Cornish: bedh m
Czech: hrob (cs) m
Danish: grav (da) c
Dutch: graf (nl) n
Elfdalian: grav f
Esperanto: tombo (eo)
Estonian: haud (et)
Faroese: grøv f
Finnish: hauta (fi)
French: tombe (fr) f
Galician: sepultura f , cova (gl) f , burata f
Georgian: საფლავი (ka) ( saplavi ) , სამარე (ka) ( samare )
German: Grab (de) n
Greek: τάφος (el) m ( táfos )
Ancient: τάφος m ( táphos )
Greenlandic: iliveq
Hebrew: קֶבֶר (he) m ( kéver )
Hindi: क़ब्र f ( qabra ) , समाधि (hi) f ( samādhi ) , गोर (hi) f ( gor )
Hungarian: sír (hu)
Icelandic: gröf (is) f
Indonesian: kubur (id)
Irish: uaigh f
Italian: fossa (it) f , tomba (it) f
Japanese: 墓 (ja) ( はか, haka )
Kabardian: кхъэ (kbd) ( qχɛ )
Karachay-Balkar: къабыр ( qabır ) , кёр ( kör )
Kazakh: мазар ( mazar ) , қабыр ( qabyr ) , көр ( kör )
Khinalug: зийарт ( zijart )
Khmer: ផ្នូរ (km) ( phnou )
Komi-Permyak: шойгу ( šojgu )
Komi-Zyrian: гу ( gu )
Korean: 무덤 (ko) ( mudeom ) , 묘(墓) (ko) ( myo )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: قەبر ( qebir ) , گۆڕ ( gorr )
Northern Kurdish: gorr (ku) f , merzel (ku) m , tirb (ku) f , qebir (ku) m , mezar (ku) f (shrine), ziyaret (ku) f (shrine)
Kyrgyz: көр (ky) ( kör ) , мүрзө (ky) ( mürzö ) , бейит (ky) ( beyit ) , мүрдө ( mürdö )
Ladino: arón m , ארון m
Lao: ຊຸມຜີ ( sum phī ) , ຂຸມຝັງສົບ ( khum fang sop ) , ຂຸມເຮ່ວ ( khum hē wa )
Latgalian: kops m
Latin: sepulcrum n
Latvian: kaps (lv) m
Lithuanian: kapas m
Luxembourgish: Graf n
Macedonian: гроб (mk) m ( grob )
Malay: pusara , kubur (ms)
Maltese: qabar m
Manx: oaie f
Megleno-Romanian: murmint
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: булш (mn) ( bulš )
Mongolian: ᠪᠤᠯᠠᠰᠢ ( bulasi )
Navajo: jishchááʼ
Norman: tombe f , fôsse f
Northern Sami: hávdi
Norwegian:
Bokmål: grav (no) m or f
Nynorsk: grav f
Old Church Slavonic:
Cyrillic: гробъ m ( grobŭ ) , могꙑла f ( mogyla )
Old East Slavic: гробъ m ( grobŭ )
Old English: byrġen f , græf n
Oromo: awaala
Ossetian: ингӕн ( ingæn ) , цирт ( cirt )
Ottoman Turkish: قبر ( kabr, kabir )
Pannonian Rusyn: гроб m ( hrob )
Pashto: قبر (ps) m ( qabər )
Persian:
Dari: گور (fa) ( gōr ) , قَبْر ( qabr )
Iranian Persian: گور (fa) ( gur ) , قَبْر ( ğabr )
Plautdietsch: Grauf n
Polish: grób (pl) m , mogiła (pl) f
Portuguese: sepultura (pt) f , cova (pt) , túmulo (pt)
Proto-Norse: ᚺᛚᚨᛁᚹᚨ n ( hlaiwa )
Rohingya: hobor , kobor
Romanian: mormânt (ro) n
Romansch: fossa f
Russian: моги́ла (ru) f ( mogíla ) , гроб (ru) m ( grob ) ( poetic, now means "coffin" )
Scottish Gaelic: uaigh f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: гро̏б m
Roman: grȍb (sh) m
Sidamo: moogo
Slovak: hrob (sk) m
Slovene: gròb (sl) m
Slovincian: grób m
Somali: qabri , xabaal (so)
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: row m
Spanish: tumba (es) f , sepultura (es) f ,
Sranan Tongo: grebi
Swahili: kaburi (sw)
Swedish: grav (sv) c , grift (sv) c ( archaic, poetic )
Tajik: гӯр ( gür ) , қабр (tg) ( qabr )
Tarifit: anḍer m
Tatar: кабер (tt) ( qaber ) , гүр (tt) ( gür )
Thai: หลุมฝังศพ ( lǔm-fǎng-sòp ) , หลุมศพ ( lǔm-sòp )
Tigrinya: መቓብር ( mäḳʰabr )
Turkish: mezar (tr) , gömüt (tr) , sin (tr) , kabir (tr) , makber (tr) , metfen (tr)
Turkmen: gör , mazar
Udi: ҝаьраьмзаь ( gʲärämzä )
Udmurt: шайгу ( šajgu )
Ugaritic: 𐎖𐎁𐎗 ( qbr )
Ukrainian: моги́ла (uk) f ( mohýla ) , гріб m ( hrib )
Urdu: قَبْر f ( qabr ) , گور f ( gor )
Uyghur: قەبرە ( qebre )
Uzbek: qabr (uz) , goʻr (uz) , qubur (uz)
Vietnamese: mộ (vi) , mồ (vi) , mả (vi) , phần mộ (vi)
Vilamovian: graob n , grob n
Welsh: bedd (cy) m
West Frisian: grêf (fy) n
Yiddish: גרוב m or f ( grub ) , קבֿר m ( keyver ) , קבֿרל n ( keyverl )
Zazaki: mezel , qebır
Zhuang: moh
See also
Etymology 2
From Middle English graven , from Old English grafan ( “ to dig, dig up, grave, engrave, carve, chisel ” ) , from Proto-Germanic *grabaną ( “ to dig ” ) , from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ- ( “ to dig, scratch, scrape ” ) . Cognate with Dutch graven ( “ to dig ” ) , German graben ( “ to dig ” ) , Danish grave ( “ to dig ” ) , Swedish gräva ( “ to dig ” ) , Icelandic grafa ( “ to dig ” ) .
Verb
grave (third-person singular simple present graves , present participle graving , simple past graved , past participle graved or graven )
( transitive , obsolete ) To dig .
( intransitive , obsolete ) To carve or cut, as letters or figures, on some hard substance; to engrave.
1872 , James De Mille, The Cryptogram , HTML edition, The Gutenberg Project, published 2009 :Deep lines were graven on her pale forehead, and on her wan , thin cheeks.
a . 1894 , Robert Louis Stevenson , "Requiem"
This be the verse you grave for me / "Here he lies where he longs to be"
( transitive , obsolete ) To carve out or give shape to, by cutting with a chisel; to sculpture.
to grave an image
( intransitive , obsolete ) To impress deeply (on the mind); to fix indelibly.
1718 , Mat Prior , “Solomon on the Vanity of the World. A Poem in Three Books.”, in Poems on Several Occasions , London: Jacob Tonson , and John Barber , →OCLC , (please specify the page) :O! may they graven in thy heart remain.
( transitive , obsolete ) To entomb; to bury.
1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare , “The life and death of King Richard the Second ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio ), London: Isaac Iaggard , and Ed Blount , published 1623 , →OCLC , :[ …] And lie full low, graved in the hollow ground.
( intransitive , obsolete ) To write or delineate on hard substances, by means of incised lines; to practice engraving.
Translations
to carve letters or similar
Etymology 3
From Middle French grave , a learned borrowing from Latin gravis ( “ heavy, important ” ) . Compare Old French greve ( “ terrible, dreadful ” ) . Doublet of grief .
Adjective
grave (comparative graver , superlative gravest )
Characterised by a dignified sense of seriousness ; not cheerful.
Synonyms: austere , solemn , sombre ; see also Thesaurus:serious
c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio ), London: Isaac Iaggard , and Ed Blount , published 1623 , →OCLC , :[Mercuti ] Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man.
Low in pitch , tone etc.
Antonyms: acute , deep , flat , low-pitched
1854 , John Weeks Moore , Encyclopedia of Music :The thicker the cord or string, the more grave is the note or tone.
Serious , in a negative sense; important , formidable .
Synonyms: serious , momentous , important ; see also Thesaurus:important
2016 February 6, James Zogby, “Israel’s prickliness blocks the long quest for peace”, in The National :Israel’s behaviour is doing grave damage to the Palestinian people and to any hope for peace.
2017 , Vladimir Shlapentokh, A Normal Totalitarian Society , page 80 :Khrushchev made a grave miscalculation when he failed to appreciate the growing opposition to his power and overestimated the support of his bureaucracy.
( phonology , dated , of a sound) Dull , produced in the middle or back of the mouth . (See Grave and acute on Wikipedia.Wikipedia )
Coordinate term: acute
( obsolete ) Influential , important ; authoritative .
Synonyms: magisterial , masterful , oracular , sterling
1624 , Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton ], The Anatomy of Melancholy: , 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC , partition II, section 3, member 7:An illiterate fool sits in a mans seat; and the common people hold him learned, grave , and wise.
Derived terms
Translations
having a sense of seriousness
Bulgarian: сериозен (bg) ( seriozen )
Catalan: seriós (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 嚴重 / 严重 (zh) ( yánzhòng ) , 嚴肅 / 严肃 (zh) ( yánsù ) , 沉重 (zh) ( chénzhòng )
Czech: vážný (cs)
Danish: alvorlig (da)
Finnish: vakava (fi)
French: grave (fr)
German: gewichtig (de) , gemessen (de) , gravitätisch (de)
Greek: βαρύς (el) ( varýs )
Italian: solenne (it) , grave (it)
Japanese: 厳粛 (ja) ( genshuku )
Latin: sērius
Ottoman Turkish: دولك ( dölek ) , آغر ( ağır )
Plautdietsch: schlemm
Polish: poważny (pl)
Romanian: grav (ro)
Russian: серьёзный (ru) ( serʹjóznyj )
Serbo-Croatian: ozbiljan (sh)
Spanish: serio (es) , seco (es) , solemne (es) , reservado (es) , sombrío (es)
Tagalog: malma
Turkish: ciddi (tr) , vahim (tr)
serious in a negative sense
Noun
grave (plural graves )
A grave accent .
Translations
Etymology 4
Inherited from Middle English greyve . Doublet of graaf (borrowed from the Dutch cognate graaf ( “ count, earl ” ) ) and graf (borrowed from the German cognate Graf ( “ count, earl ” ) ).
Noun
grave (plural graves )
( historical ) A count , prefect , or person holding office .
Etymology 5
Verb
grave (third-person singular simple present graves , present participle graving , simple past and past participle graved )
( transitive , obsolete , nautical ) To clean, as a vessel's bottom, of barnacles, grass, etc., and pay it over with pitch — so called because graves or greaves was formerly used for this purpose.
Anagrams
Danish
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Italian grave , from Latin gravis ( “ heavy, grave ” ) .
Adverb
grave
( music ) grave ( low in pitch, tone etc. )
accent grave – accent grave , grave accent
Etymology 2
From Old Norse grafa ( “ to dig, bury ” ) , from Proto-Germanic *grabaną , from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrābʰ- ( “ to dig, scratch, scrape ” ) .
Verb
grave (imperative grav , infinitive at grave , present tense graver , past tense gravede , perfect tense har gravet )
dig ( to move hard-packed earth out of the way )
Derived terms
Etymology 3
See grav ( “ grave, tomb, pit ” ) .
Noun
grave c
indefinite plural of grav
Dutch
Pronunciation
Verb
grave
( dated or formal ) singular present subjunctive of graven
Anagrams
Esperanto
Pronunciation
Adverb
grave
seriously , gravely
French
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Inherited from Middle French grave , borrowed from Latin gravis . Doublet of grief .
Adjective
grave (plural graves )
serious
solemn
low-pitched
Antonym: aigu
( phonetics ) back
Derived terms
Descendants
→ Norwegian Bokmål: grave
Adverb
grave
( informal , slang ) much ; a lot
Je te kiffe grave ! I love you like crazy !
Etymology 2
Verb
grave
inflection of graver :
first / third-person singular present indicative / subjunctive
second-person singular imperative
Further reading
Anagrams
Italian
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin gravis . Doublet of greve .
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) : /ˈɡra.ve/
Rhymes: -ave
Hyphenation: grà‧ve
Adjective
grave (plural gravi , superlative gravissimo )
grave , serious
un grave problema a serious problem
heavy
solemn
( music ) low-pitched , low-pitch
Synonyms
Antonyms
Descendants
Anagrams
Latin
Adjective
grave
nominative / accusative / vocative neuter singular of gravis
References
"grave ", in Charlton T. Lewis (1891 ) An Elementary Latin Dictionary , New York: Harper & Brothers
grave in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
"grave ", in The Perseus Project (1999 ) Perseus Encyclopedia
Middle English
Etymology 1
From the dative of Old English græf , from Proto-West Germanic *grab , from Proto-Germanic *grabą .
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) : /ˈɡraːv(ə)/ , /ˈɡrav(ə)/ , /ˈɡraf/
Noun
grave (plural graves )
grave , burial
tomb , mausoleum
Derived terms
Descendants
References
Etymology 2
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) : /ˈɡraːvɛi̯/ , /ˈɡraːveː/
Noun
grave (plural graves )
Alternative form of gravey
Etymology 3
Noun
grave
( Late Middle English ) Alternative form of greyve
Etymology 4
Noun
grave
( Early Middle English ) Alternative form of grove
Etymology 5
Verb
grave
Alternative form of graven
Middle French
Etymology
From Old French grave .
Noun
grave f (plural graves )
gravel
Descendants
References
Godefroy, Frédéric , Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX e au XV e siècle (1881) (grave )
Middle High German
Etymology
Inherited from Old High German grāfo , grāvo , grāfio , grāvio ( “ count, local judge ” ) .
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) : ( before 13th CE ) /ˈɡraːvə/ , /ˈɡraːfə/
Noun
grāve m
count , local judge
Declension
Declension of grāve (masculine, weak )
Derived terms
Descendants
References
“grâve ” Benecke, Georg Friedrich, Wilhelm Müller, and Friedrich Zarncke. Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch: mit benutzung des Nachlasses von Benecke . Vol. 1. S. Hirzel, 1863.
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology 1
From Old Norse grafa , from Proto-Germanic *grabaną , from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrābʰ- ( “ to dig, scratch, scrape ” ) .
Verb
grave (imperative grav , present tense graver , passive graves , simple past gravde or grov , past participle gravd , present participle gravende )
to dig
grave ut ― to excavate
Etymology 2
From French grave ( “ serious, low-pitched; back ” ) , from Middle French grave , from Old French grave , from Latin gravis ( “ heavy, grave, serious ” ) , from Proto-Indo-European *gʷréh₂us ( “ heavy ” ) , from *gʷreh₂- ( “ heavy ” ) + *-us ( forms adjectives ) .
Pronunciation
Noun
grave m (definite singular graven , indefinite plural graver , definite plural gravene )
Only used in accent grave ( “ grave accent ” )
References
“grave” in The Bokmål Dictionary .
“grave” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB ).
Norwegian Nynorsk
Verb
grave (present tense grev , past tense grov , past participle grave , passive infinitive gravast , present participle gravande , imperative grav )
Alternative form of grava
Derived terms
Old French
Etymology
Medieval Latin grava , from Gaulish *grawa , *growa , from Proto-Celtic *grāwā , related to Cornish grow ( “ gravel ” ) , Breton grouan , and Welsh gro ( “ gravel ” ) ; ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰr-eu-d- .
Noun
grave oblique singular , f (oblique plural graves , nominative singular grave , nominative plural graves )
gravel
Descendants
References
Godefroy, Frédéric , Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX e au XV e siècle (1881) (grave )
Portuguese
Pronunciation
Rhymes: ( Brazil ) -avi , ( Portugal ) -avɨ
Hyphenation: gra‧ve
Etymology 1
From Old Galician-Portuguese grave , from Latin gravis ( “ heavy; grave ” ) , from Proto-Indo-European *gʷréh₂us .
Adjective
grave m or f (plural graves , comparable , comparative mais grave , superlative o mais grave or gravíssimo )
serious ; grave ( having possible severe negative consequences )
Synonyms: sério , severo
Sofria de uma doença grave . He suffered from a serious disease.
( of sound ) low-pitched ; grave ( low in pitch or tone )
Synonym: baixo
Antonym: agudo
O som da tuba é mais grave do que o do trombone. The sound of the tuba has a lower pitch than that of the trombone.
grave ; serious ; sombre ; austere ; solemn ( characterised by a dignified sense of seriousness )
Synonyms: sério , austero , circunspecto , sisudo , solene
O programa tinha um tom grave . The program had a serious tone.
( physics ) that falls down ; that doesn’t float
O balão não é um corpo grave . Balloons are not a falling body.
Derived terms
Noun
grave m (plural graves )
( music ) a low-pitched note
( physics ) a body that falls down
Etymology 2
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Verb
grave
inflection of gravar :
first / third-person singular present subjunctive
third-person singular imperative
Romanian
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from Italian grave .
Adjective
grave
inflection of grav :
genitive / dative feminine singular / plural
nominative / accusative neuter plural
Adverb
grave
grave
Spanish
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Inherited from Old Spanish grave , from Latin gravis . Cf. also the attested Old Spanish form grieve , from Early Medieval Latin grevis , which was more common in other Romance-speaking areas.[ 1]
Adjective
grave m or f (masculine and feminine plural graves , superlative gravísimo )
serious , grave
Synonym: serio
bass ( sound )
Synonym: bajo
Antonym: agudo
solemn
Synonym: solemne
( phonetics ) paroxytone ; stressed in the penultimate syllable
Synonym: llano
Coordinate terms: agudo , esdrújulo , sobresdrújulo
Derived terms
Descendants
Etymology 2
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Verb
grave
inflection of gravar :
first / third-person singular present subjunctive
third-person singular imperative
Further reading
References
Anagrams
Swedish
Adjective
grave
definite natural masculine singular of grav
Anagrams
West Frisian
Etymology
From Old Frisian grava , from Proto-West Germanic *graban , from Proto-Germanic *grabaną .
Pronunciation
Verb
grave
to dig
Inflection
Further reading
“grave ”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011