Where does “grief” come from?
grief (Middle Dutch) comes from Old French grief, from Late Latin grevis, from Latin gravis, from Proto-Indo-European gʷréh₂us, from Proto-Indo-European -us — Forms adjectives from Caland system roots.
Ancestry of “grief”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old French | grief | pain; anguish; suffering; sad |
| 2 | Late Latin | grevis | — |
| 3 | Latin | gravis | heavy; troublesome, hard; grave, serious |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷréh₂us | heavy |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | -us | Forms adjectives from Caland system roots |
Words derived from “grief”