grief

EnglishEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Middle English greef, gref, borrowed from Old French grief (“grave, heavy, grievous, sad”), from Latin gravis (“heavy, grievous, sad”). Doublet of grave.

PronunciationEdit

  • IPA(key): /ɡɹiːf/
  • Audio (US)
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  • Audio (UK)
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  • Rhymes: -iːf

NounEdit

grief (countable and uncountable, plural griefs)

  1. Suffering, hardship. [from early 13th c.]
  2. Pain of mind arising from misfortune, significant personal loss, bereavement, misconduct of oneself or others, etc.; sorrow; sadness. [from early 14th c.]
    She was worn out from so much grief.
    The betrayal caused Jeff grief.
    • 1576, George Whetstone, “The Ortchard of Repentance: […]”, in The Rocke of Regard, Diuided into Foure Parts. [...], London: […] Robert Waley, OCLC 837515946; republished in J[ohn] P[ayne] Collier, editor, The Rocke of Regard, Diuided into Foure Parts. [...] (Illustrations of Early English Poetry; vol. 2, no. 2), London: Privately printed, [1867?], OCLC 706027473, page 291:
      And ſure, although it was invented to eaſe his mynde of griefe, there be a number of caveats therein to forewarne other young gentlemen to foreſtand with good government their folowing yl fortunes; […]
  3. (countable) Cause or instance of sorrow or pain; that which afflicts or distresses; trial.

Derived termsEdit

TranslationsEdit

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
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VerbEdit

grief (third-person singular simple present griefs, present participle griefing, simple past and past participle griefed)

  1. (online gaming) To deliberately harass and annoy or cause grief to other players of a game in order to interfere with their enjoyment of it; especially, to do this as one’s primary activity in the game. [from late 1990s]
    • 2008 January 18, Julian Dibbell, “Mutilated Furries, Flying Phalluses: Put the Blame on Griefers, the Sociopaths of the Virtual World”, in Wired‎[1]:
      While ban and his pals stand squarely in this tradition, they also stand for something new: the rise of organized griefing, grounded in online message-board communities and thick with in-jokes, code words, taboos, and an increasingly articulate sense of purpose. No longer just an isolated pathology, griefing has developed a full-fledged culture.

Usage notesEdit

  • This verb is most commonly found in the gerund-participle griefing and the derived noun griefer.

Related termsEdit

Further readingEdit

DutchEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Middle Dutch grief, from Old French grief, from Vulgar Latin *grevis, from Latin gravis.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

grief f (plural grieven, diminutive griefje n)

  1. (chiefly in the plural) grievance, complaint, bone to pick, issue

Derived termsEdit

FrenchEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Old French grief, from Vulgar Latin grevis (influenced by its antonym, levis), from Latin gravis, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷréh₂us. Doublet of grave.

PronunciationEdit

AdjectiveEdit

grief (feminine singular griève, masculine plural griefs, feminine plural grièves)

  1. (archaic, literary) grievous

Derived termsEdit

NounEdit

grief m (plural griefs)

  1. complaint
  2. grief
  3. grievance (formal complaint filed with an authority)

Further readingEdit

AnagramsEdit

LadinEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Vulgar Latin *grevis, from Latin gravis.

AdjectiveEdit

grief m (feminine singular grieva, masculine plural griefs, feminine plural grieves)

  1. arduous
  2. difficult
  3. steep

Old FrenchEdit

Alternative formsEdit

  • gref (typically Anglo-Norman)

EtymologyEdit

Probably from the verb grever, or from Vulgar Latin grevis (influenced by its antonym, levis), from Latin gravis.

NounEdit

grief m (oblique plural griés, nominative singular griés, nominative plural grief)

  1. pain; anguish; suffering

AdjectiveEdit

grief m (oblique and nominative feminine singular grieve)

  1. sad
    • late 12th century, anonymous, La Folie de Tristan d'Oxford, page 386 (of the Champion Classiques edition of Le Roman de Tristan, →ISBN, line 552:
      Mult ai le quer gref e marri.
      (please add an English translation of this quote)

DescendantsEdit

  • English: grief
  • French: grief
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