Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The natural attraction between physical bodies, especially when one of the bodies is a celestial body, such as the earth.
  • noun Grave consequence; seriousness or importance.
  • noun Solemnity or dignity of manner.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Weight, as contradistinguished from mass; precisely, the downward acceleration of terrestrial bodies, due to the gravitation of the earth modified by the centrifugal force due to its rotation on its axis.
  • Solemnity of deportment or character; sedateness of demeanor; seriousness.
  • Importance; significance; dignity.
  • In acoustics, the state of being low in pitch: opposed to acuteness.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The state of having weight; beaviness.
  • noun Sobriety of character or demeanor.
  • noun Importance, significance, dignity, etc; hence, seriousness; enormity.
  • noun (Physics) The tendency of a mass of matter toward a center of attraction; esp., the tendency of a body toward the center of the earth; terrestrial gravitation.
  • noun (Mus.) Lowness of tone; -- opposed to acuteness.
  • noun See under Center.
  • noun See Battery, n., 4.
  • noun the ratio of the weight of a body to the weight of an equal volume of some other body taken as the standard or unit. This standard is usually water for solids and liquids, and air for gases. Thus, 19, the specific gravity of gold, expresses the fact that, bulk for bulk, gold is nineteen times as heavy as water.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Resultant force on Earth's surface, of the attraction by the Earth's masses, and the centrifugal pseudo-force caused by the Earth's rotation.
  • noun Gravitation, universal force exercised by two bodies onto each other (In casual discussion, gravity and gravitation are often used interchangeably).
  • noun The state or condition of having weight; weight; heaviness.
  • noun Specific gravity.
  • noun The state or condition of being grave (graveness).

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a solemn and dignified feeling
  • noun a manner that is serious and solemn
  • noun (physics) the force of attraction between all masses in the universe; especially the attraction of the earth's mass for bodies near its surface

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French gravité, heaviness, from Old French, from Latin gravitās, from gravis, heavy; see gwerə- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

16th century, from Latin gravitās ("weight"), from gravis ("heavy"), from Persian gerân ("heavy").

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Examples

  • For example, all masses appear to show evidence of what we label gravity.

    The G.O.D. Experiments Gary E. Schwartz 2006

  • That power is what we call gravity, and you see there [pointing to the scales] a good deal of water gravitating toward the earth.

    The Forces of Matter, Delivered before a Juvenile Auditory at the Royal Institution of Great Britain during the Christmas Holidays of 1859-60 1909

  • A chief point of discussion to which the investigations have led is: Whether the phenomena of what we call gravity may not be resolvable into those of magnetism -- a force acting at a distance, or by lines of power.

    Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 448 Volume 18, New Series, July 31, 1852 Various 1836

  • Again, I have always found, that a human body was possest of a quality, which I call gravity, and which hinders it from mounting in the air, as this porter must have done to arrive at my chamber, unless the stairs I remember be not annihilated by my absence.

    A Treatise of Human Nature David Hume 1743

  • Again, I have always found, that a human body was possest of a quality, which I call gravity, and which hinders it from mounting in the air, as this porter must have done to arrive at my chamber, unless the stairs I remember be not annihilated by my absence.

    A treatise of human nature 1739

  • Again, I have always found, that a human body was possest of a quality, which I call gravity, and which hinders it from mounting in the air, as this porter must have done to arrive at my chamber, unless the stairs I remember be not annihilated by my absence.

    A Treatise of Human Nature 1739

  • His strange levity, which he calls gravity, on the death of Belford's uncle.

    Clarissa Harlowe; or the history of a young lady — Volume 6 Samuel Richardson 1725

  • The silver recovery we're achieving on the sulfide ore is as per the feasibility study expectations and the initial results coming out of the Gekko InLine Pressure Jigs, what we call the gravity pre-concentration are also consistent with the feasibility study predictions.

    Silver Standard Resources CEO Discusses Q3 2010 Results - Earnings Call Transcript -- Seeking Alpha 2010

  • Or rather, what we call gravity is what happens when an object moves along the altered path caused by another object's mass.

    Planet Atheism 2009

  • The cattle move about the field, the drift boulders slowly creep down the slopes; there is no doubt that the final source of the force is in both cases the same; what we call gravity, a name for a mystery, is the form it takes in the case of the rocks, and what we call vitality, another name for a mystery, is the form it takes in the case of the cattle; without the solar and stellar energy, could there be any motion of either rock or beast?

    The Breath of Life John Burroughs 1879

Comments

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  • All the natural movements of the soul are controlled by laws analogous to those of physical gravity. Grace is the only exception. Simone Weil

    March 23, 2010

  • "In acoustics, the state of being low in pitch: opposed to acuteness."

    -- from the Century Dictionary

    April 25, 2017