gravitas

See also: gravitás

Contents

English

WOTD – 17 November 2007

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin gravitās (“weight, heaviness”). Doublet of gravity.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɡɹævɪtɑs/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɡɹæv.ɪ.tɑːs/, /ˈɡɹæv.ɪ.tæs/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (AU)

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Noun

gravitas (uncountable)

1. Seriousness in bearing or manner; dignity.
2. (figuratively) Substance, weight.
   • 2014 September 7, Natalie Angier, “The Moon comes around again [print version: Revisiting a moon that still has secrets to reveal: Supermoon revives interest in its violent origins and hidden face, International New York Times, 10 September 2014, p. 8]”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:

     Unlike most moons of the solar system, ours has the heft, the gravitational gravitas, to pull itself into a sphere.

Usage notes

Frequently used in a jocular or stilted sense.

Related terms

• gravitate
• gravity

Translations

Translations

• Polish: powaga (pl) f

Anagrams

• stravaig

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Esperanto

Verb

gravitas

1. present of graviti

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French

Pronunciation

• Homophones: gravita, gravitât

Verb

gravitas

1. second-person singular past historic of graviter

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Ido

Verb

gravitas

1. present of gravitar

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Latin

Etymology

From gravis (“heavy”) +‎ -tās

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈɡra.wi.taːs/

Noun

gravitās f (genitive gravitātis); third declension

1. weight, heaviness
2. severity, harshness
3. importance, presence, influence
4. gravity
5. pregnancy

Inflection

Third declension.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	gravitās	gravitātēs
Genitive	gravitātis	gravitātum
Dative	gravitātī	gravitātibus
Accusative	gravitātem	gravitātēs
Ablative	gravitāte	gravitātibus
Vocative	gravitās	gravitātēs

Synonyms

• (pregnancy): graviditās

Related terms

• graviter
• gravitō

Descendants

• Aromanian: griutati
• Catalan: gravetat
• Dutch: graviteit (borrowing)
• English: gravitas (borrowing), gravity (borrowing)
• French: gravité (borrowing)

• Italian: gravità (borrowing)
• Old French: grieté
• Portuguese: gravidade (borrowing)
• Romanian: gravitate (borrowing) greutate
• Spanish: gravedad

References

• gravitas in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• gravitas in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• gravitas in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• gravitas in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • healthy climate: caelum salūbre, salubritas caeli (opp. grave, gravitas)
    

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Portuguese

Verb

gravitas

1. Second-person singular (tu) present indicative of gravitar

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Spanish

Verb

gravitas

1. Informal second-person singular (tú) present indicative form of gravitar.