Where does “grieve” come from?

Grieve comes from Middle English greyve, from Old French greve, from Latin gravare meaning to make heavy or burden, derived from Latin gravis meaning heavy, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European gʷréh₂us.

grieve (English): To cause sorrow or distress to; To feel very sad...

Definitions

  1. To cause sorrow or distress to; To feel very sad...

Ancestry of “grieve”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishgreyvesteward
2Old Norsegreifia count, earl, steward
3Middle Low Germangrēve—
4Old High Germangrāviocount, local judge
5Proto-West Germanicgarāfijōcount; earl; reeve, bailiff

Words derived from “grieve”

Every word from Proto-West Germanic garāfijō →Every word from Old High German grāvio →Every word from Middle Low German grēve →