grave

n.

1. 1. An excavation for the interment of a corpse.
   2. A place of burial.
2. Death or extinction: faced the grave with calm resignation.

[Middle English, from Old English græf.]

grave² (grāv)
adj., grav·er, grav·est.

1. Requiring serious thought; momentous: a grave decision in a time of crisis.
2. Fraught with danger or harm: a grave wound.
3. Dignified and somber in conduct or character: a grave procession. See synonyms at serious.
4. Somber or dark in hue.
5. (also gräv) Linguistics.
   1. Written with or modified by the mark ( ` ), as the è in Sèvres.
   2. Of or referring to a phonetic feature that distinguishes sounds produced at the periphery of the vocal tract, as in labial and velar consonants and back vowels.

n. Linguistics (also gräv)
A mark ( ` ) indicating a pronounced e for the sake of meter in the usually nonsyllabic ending -ed in English poetry.

[French, from Old French, from Latin gravis.]

gravely grave'ly adv.
graveness grave'ness n.

grave³ (grāv)
tr.v., graved, grav·en (grā'vən), or graved, grav·ing, graves.

1. To sculpt or carve; engrave.
2. To stamp or impress deeply; fix permanently.

[Middle English graven, from Old English grafan.]

grave⁴ (grāv)
tr.v., graved, grav·ing, graves.
To clean and coat (the bottom of a wooden ship) with pitch.

[Middle English graven.]

gra·ve⁵ (grä'vā)
adv. & adj. Music
In a slow and solemn manner. Used chiefly as a direction.

[Italian, from Latin gravis, heavy. See grave².]

noun

A burial place or receptacle for human remains: catacomb, cinerarium, crypt, mausoleum, ossuary, sepulcher, sepulture, tomb, vault¹. See keep/release, place.

grave²

adjective

1. Having great consequence or weight: earnest¹, heavy, momentous, serious, severe, weighty. See important/unimportant.
2. Causing or marked by danger or pain, for example: dangerous, grievous, serious, severe. See help/harm/harmless.
3. Portending future disaster: apocalyptic, apocalyptical, baneful, dire, direful, fateful, fire-and-brimstone, hellfire, ominous, portentous, unlucky. See luck/misfortune/chance, warn/invite.
4. Full of or marked by dignity and seriousness: earnest¹, sedate, serious, sober, solemn, somber, staid. See attitude/good attitude/bad attitude/neutral attitude, heavy/light.

grave³

verb

1. To cut (a design or inscription) into a hard surface, especially for printing: carve, engrave, etch, incise. See marks.
2. To produce a deep impression of: engrave, etch, fix, impress, imprint, inscribe, stamp. See marks.

adj

Definition: crucial, dangerous
Antonyms: inconsequential, trivial, unimportant

adj

Definition: serious; gloomy
Antonyms: cheerful, frivolous, funny, happy, nonchalant, ridiculous, silly

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v. clean (a ship's bottom) by burning off the accretions and then tarring it.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

mass Metric 1792 The original name for kilogram.

(Fr., It.)

Serious, grave.

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From the Middle Ages through to the mid-17th century, most people were buried in simple graves marked (if at all) by a wooden cross, or under a plain flagstone of the church floor; only the élite received inscribed tombstones, effigies, or brass plaques. It was normal for graves to be reopened after some years, any remaining bones removed to an ossuary, and the ground reused for fresh burials. ‘Perpetual graves’ became common from the 1650s onwards, each with its carved and inscribed stone(s), offering an opportunity for local traditions of funerary art to develop, and for long, individualistic epitaphs and memorial verses. Elaboration and individualism were very marked in Victorian cemeteries; since the Second World War, however, Church authorities and town councils have curtailed the permitted choices, both in the design of headstones and in the wording of epitaphs. The rigidity of their rules may be one reason for the current liking for intensely personal memorials at the scenes of tragic deaths.

Visiting and tending graves is a custom which varies greatly from one family to another. Some people visit weekly, or even daily; a far larger number visit at specific dates, especially in the days leading up to Mothering Sunday, Easter, and Christmas, brining cards and seasonal flowers or a holly wreath. Personal dates (birthdays, wedding anniversaries, the anniversary of death) may be similarly observed. In municipal London cemeteries, some graves of young children are decked at Christmas with floral teddies and Father Christmases, or with actual toys, and helium balloons tied nearby (FLS News 21 (1995), 9-10). However, there are also very many people who cannot or will not tend graves.

The traditional orientation of graves, still observed in most churchyards though not in municipal cemeteries, is towards the east in readiness for Doomsday. There are generally fewer on the ill-omened north side of the church. All graves, marked or unmarked, must be treated respectfully; to tread on one is both wrong and unlucky, and also to pick flowers growing on one. A grave prepared for a Monday funeral should not be left open on the Sunday, for then someone else will shortly die; boards should be laid across it. When sextons digging new graves unearth bones from older burials, some rebury them where they lie, others in the strip of ground right against the church itself, where the soil is too shallow for normal graves [JS].

In folk medicine, contact with death was regarded as curative; teeth from skulls prevented toothache, moss growing on them cured plague and headaches, and parts of coffins were good for various ills. In Cornwall in the 1850s, dew from ‘the grave of the last young man buried in the churchyard’ was gathered at dawn to cure a swollen neck (N&Q 1s:2 (1855), 474-5). The strangest belief, recorded from Sussex and Lincolnshire in 1868 and 1933 respectively, was that if a child inclined to bed-wetting is made to urinate into an open grave, or on to the grave of a child of opposite sex, this will stop the habit (Latham, 1878:49; Folk-Lore 44 (1933), 204).

Graves are sometimes found, singly or in groups, on hilltops, in woods, or by the roadside. Reasons for such unorthodox locations vary; some were private burial grounds for Quakers or Nonconformists, denied access to Anglican churchyards, or for aristocratic landowners and their households; some for individuals who had personal motives to choose a particular spot. Roadside graves, if unmarked, are often said to be those of suicides, or of highwaymen hanged, gibbetted, and eventually buried, at the scene of their crimes; these traditions may be well founded. Some are kept neat and have flowers regularly laid on them by Gypsies and others; these include a Highwayman's Grave near Beckhampton (Wiltshire), the Boy's Grave near Newmarket (Suffolk), and Jay's Grave near Haytor (Devon), where a suicidal girl is laid. Legends naturally proliferate; the Betty of Betty's Grave, at a crossroads near Poulton (Gloucestershire) is variously called a suicide, a murder victim, a witch, a sheep-stealer, or a woman who dropped dead after a mowing competition (Chetwynd-Stapylton, 1968).

See also BURIALS, FUNERALS, SUICIDES, UNBAPTIZED INFANTS.

In poetry, a mark ( ` ) indicating that the e in the English ending ed is to be pronounced for the sake of meter.

A cynical view of the world by Ambrose Bierce

n.

A place in which the dead are laid to await the coming of the medical student.

    Beside a lonely grave I stood --
        With brambles 'twas encumbered;
    The winds were moaning in the wood,
        Unheard by him who slumbered,
    
    A rustic standing near, I said:
        "He cannot hear it blowing!"
    "'Course not," said he:  "the feller's dead --
        He can't hear nowt [sic] that's going."
    
    "Too true," I said; "alas, too true --
        No sound his sense can quicken!"
    "Well, mister, wot is that to you? --
        The deadster ain't a-kickin'."
    
    I knelt and prayed:  "O Father, smile
        On him, and mercy show him!"
    That countryman looked on the while,
        And said:  "Ye didn't know him."
                                                         Pobeter Dunko

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IN BRIEF: Very serious. Also: A tomb.

The only difference between a rut and a grave is their depth. — Gerald Burrill.

Quotes:

"Under the wide and starry sky,
Dig the grave and let me lie.
Glad did I live and gladly die,
And I laid me down with a will.
This is the verse you grave for me:
'Here he lies where he longed to be;
Here is the sailor, home from the sea,
And the hunter home from the hill.'" - Adlai E. Stevenson

"Tombs are the clothes of the dead and a grave is a plain suit; while an expensive monument is one with embroidery." - R. Buckminster Fuller

"There is little much beyond the grave, but the strong are saying nothing until they see." - Robert Frost

"The house appointed for all the living." - Bible

"A tomb now suffices him for whom the whole world was not sufficient." - Alexander The Great

Graves often represent the end of the line, the end or "death" of something, rather than literal death. They also suggest grave issues that require depth of thought and contemplation before making a decision. Because of their underworld connotations, graves can indicate the realm of the unconscious. (See also Burial; Coffin; Crypt; Dead/Death; Hearse).

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Dansk (Danish)
1.
n. - grav, død

idioms:

• have one foot in the grave    være på gravens rand
• rise from the grave    stå op af graven
• turn in one's grave    vende sig i graven

2.
adj. - alvorlig, højtidelig, dyster, værdig
n. - grave accent

idioms:

• grave accent    accent grave, gravis

3.
v. tr. - gravere, udskære, udhugge

4.
v. tr. - grave

5.
adv. - højtideligt, dystert
adj. - højtidelig, dyster, sørgelig

Nederlands (Dutch)
graf, ernstig, plechtig, diep (toon), somber, accent grave, graveren, griffen, (uit)graven, schoonmaken (schip) zwijgen als het graf met een voet in het graf staan

Français (French)
1.
n. - tombe

idioms:

• have one foot in the grave    avoir un pied dans la tombe
• rise from the grave    ressusciter
• turn in one's grave    se retourner dans sa tombe

2.
adj. - grave, sérieux, grand, solennel
n. - accent grave

idioms:

• grave accent    accent grave

3.
v. tr. - graver

4.
v. tr. - nettoyer et goudronner la carène d'un bateau

5.
adv. - lentement et de façon solennelle
adj. - lent et solennel (une musique)

Deutsch (German)
1.
n. - Grab, Grabstätte

idioms:

• have one foot in the grave    mit einem Bein im Grab stehen
• rise from the grave    vom Tode auferstehen
• turn in one's grave    sich im Grabe umdrehen

2.
adj. - ernst, schwer, kritisch, alarmierend
n. - Betonung

idioms:

• grave accent    Gravis, Accent grave

3.
v. - eingravieren, einschnitzen , (fig) einprägen

4.
v. - (naut) Schiffsboden reinigen und streichen

5.
adv. - (Mus), ernst, feierlich, gemessen
adj. - ernst, tief

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - τάφος, μνήμα
adj. - βαρύς, σοβαρός, δυσάρεστος

idioms:

• grave accent    (γραμμ.) (τόνος) βαρεία
• have one foot in the grave    έχω το ένα πόδι στον τάφο
• rise from the grave    ανασταίνομαι
• turn in one's grave    τρίζουν τα κόκκαλά μου (στον τάφο)

Italiano (Italian)
tomba, grave, solenne

idioms:

• be silent as the grave    essere muto come una tomba, essere muto come un pesce
• dig one's own grave    scavarsi la fossa
• grave accent    accento grave
• have one foot in the grave    avere un piede nella fossa
• rise from the grave    risuscitare
• turn in one's grave    rigirarsi nella bara

Português (Portuguese)
n. - sepulcro (m)
adj. - sério, ameaçador, sombrio

idioms:

• be silent as the grave    ficar quieto como um túmulo
• dig one's own grave    cavar sua própria sepultura
• grave accent    acento (m) grave (Gram.)
• have one foot in the grave    estar com um pé na cova
• rise from the grave    ressuscitar dos mortos
• turn in one's grave    dar voltas na sepultura

Русский (Russian)
могила, серьезный (о человеке, событии), угрожающий, печальный, мрачный, темный (о цвете), низкий (о тоне), гравировать, запечатлевать в памяти, очищать подводную часть корабля

idioms:

• be silent as the grave    хранить могильное молчание
• dig one's own grave    выкопать себе могилу
• grave accent    тупое ударение
• have one foot in the grave    стоять одной ногой в могиле
• rise from the grave    восстать из мертвых
• turn in one's grave    перевернуться в могиле (от негодования и пр.)

Español (Spanish)
1.
n. - sepultura, tumba, sepulcro

idioms:

• have one foot in the grave    estar con un pie en el sepulcro, estar en las últimas
• rise from the grave    resucitar
• turn in one's grave    revolcarse en su tumba

2.
adj. - serio, grave, solemne, ceremonioso
n. - grave, grave (acento)

idioms:

• grave accent    acento grave

3.
v. tr. - tallar, esculpir, grabar

4.
v. tr. - limpiar y proteger con brea la quilla de un barco

5.
adv. - lentamente, solemnemente
adj. - serio, grave, solemne, ceremonioso, lento

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - grav
adj. - allvarlig (om person), svår (om sak), mörk (om färg), djup (om ton)

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
1. 墓穴, 坟墓

idioms:

• grave accent    重音符
• have one foot in the grave    风烛残年
• rise from the grave    复活
• turn in one's grave    使某人纵使在九泉之下也不得安宁

2. 重大的, 严肃的, 认真的, 严重的, 暗淡的, 阴暗的

3. 雕刻

4. 雕刻

5. 墓穴, 坟墓, 壮重的, 严肃的

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
1.
adj. - 重大的, 嚴肅的, 認真的, 嚴重的, 暗淡的, 陰暗的

2.
v. tr. - 雕刻

3.
adv. - 墓穴, 墳墓
adj. - 壯重的, 嚴肅的

4.
v. tr. - 雕刻

5.
n. - 墓穴, 墳墓

idioms:

• grave accent    重音符
• have one foot in the grave    風燭殘年
• rise from the grave    復活
• turn in one's grave    使某人縱使在九泉之下也不得安寧

한국어 (Korean)
1.
n. - 무덤, 야채류 저장굴, 파멸

idioms:

• have one foot in the grave    거의 다 죽어가다
• turn in one's grave    (죽은 자가) 무덤 속에서 탄식하다

2.
adj. - 심각한, 엄숙한, 심상치 않은
n. - 저음, 낮은 악센트 부호

3.
v. tr. - 새기다, 파다

4.
v. tr. - 배의 밑바닥을 청소하고 타르 칠을 하다

5.
adv. - 느리고 장엄하게
adj. - (음악이) 느리고 장엄한

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 墓, 死に場所, 死
adj. - 重大な, まじめな, 厳粛な, 深刻な, くすんだ, 重々しい
v. - 彫る, 彫刻する, 刻み付ける, 刻む

idioms:

• grave accent    抑音アクセント

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) قبر (صفه) صعب, خطير احدى رجليه في القبر‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮קבר, מקום קבורה‬
adj. - ‮חמור-סבר, חמור, רציני, לא חד (קול), לא-מודגש, מאיים‬
v. tr. - ‮קבר, ניקה (את תחתית הספינה), קבע באופן שאין להסירו‬
v. tr. - ‮חקק, חרת‬
adv. - ‮באטיות, בחגיגיות‬
adj. - ‮אטי, חגיגי‬

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