Where does “grief” come from?

Grief comes from Middle English greef, from Old French grief meaning heavy or serious, from Latin gravis meaning heavy, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European gʷréh₂us meaning heavy or weighty.

grief (English): Suffering, hardship; Pain of mind arising from...

Definitions

  1. Suffering, hardship; Pain of mind arising from...

Ancestry of “grief”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishgreef—
2Old Frenchgriefpain; anguish; suffering; sad
3Late Latingrevis—
4Latingravisheavy; troublesome, hard; grave, serious
5Proto-Indo-Europeangʷréh₂usheavy
6Proto-Indo-European-usForms adjectives from Caland system roots

Words derived from “grief”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European -us →