grief

Etymology

From Middle English greef, gref, borrowed from Old French grief (“grave, heavy, grievous, sad”), from Latin gravis (“heavy, grievous, sad”). Doublet of grave.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɹiːf/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːf

Noun

grief (countable and uncountable, plural griefs)

1. Suffering, hardship. [from early 13th c.]
2. Pain of mind arising from misfortune, significant personal loss, bereavement, misconduct of oneself or others, etc.; sorrow; sadness. [from early 14th c.]

   She was worn out from so much grief.

   The betrayal caused Jeff grief.

   • 1576, George Whetstone, “The Ortchard of Repentance: Wherein is Reported the Miseries of Dice, the Mischiefes of Quarelling, and the Fall of Prodigalitie. Wherein is Discovered the Deceits of all Sortes of People. Wherein is Reported the Souden Endes of Foure Notable Cousiners. With Divers Other Discourses Necessarie for All Sortes of Men [...]”, in The Rocke of Regard, Diuided into Foure Parts. [...], Imprinted at London: [By H. Middleton] for Robert Waley, OCLC 837515946; republished as J[ohn] P[ayne] Collier, editor, The Rocke of Regard, Diuided into Foure Parts. [...] (Illustrations of Early English Poetry; vol. 2, no. 2), London: Privately printed, [1867?], OCLC 706027473, page 291:

     And ſure, although it was invented to eaſe his mynde of griefe, there be a number of caveats therein to forewarne other young gentlemen to foreſtand with good government their folowing yl fortunes; […]

3. (countable) Cause or instance of sorrow or pain; that which afflicts or distresses; trial.

   Surely, he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows. -Isaiah 53:4

Verb

grief (third-person singular simple present griefs, present participle griefing, simple past and past participle griefed)

1. (online gaming) To deliberately harass and annoy or cause grief to other players of a game in order to interfere with their enjoyment of it; especially, to do this as one’s primary activity in the game. [from late 20th Century]

Related terms

• grievance
• grieve
• grievous

Further reading

• grief in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• grief in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• grief at OneLook Dictionary Search

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -if

Noun

grief f (plural grieven, diminutive griefje n)

1. (chiefly plural) grievance, axe to grind

Etymology

From Old French grief, from Vulgar Latin grevis (influenced by its antonym, levis), from Latin gravis, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷréh₂us. Doublet of grave.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡʁi.jɛf/

Adjective

grief (feminine singular griève, masculine plural griefs, feminine plural grièves)

1. (archaic, literary) grievous

Noun

grief m (plural griefs)

1. complaint
2. grief
3. grievance (formal complaint filed with an authority)

Further reading

• “grief” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• figer

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *grevis, from Latin gravis.

Adjective

grief m (feminine singular grieva, masculine plural griefs, feminine plural grieves)

1. arduous
2. difficult
3. steep

Alternative forms

• gref (typically Anglo-Norman)

Etymology

Probably from the verb grever, or from Vulgar Latin grevis (influenced by its antonym, levis), from Latin gravis.

Noun

grief m (oblique plural griés, nominative singular griés, nominative plural grief)

1. pain; anguish; suffering

Adjective

grief m (oblique and nominative feminine singular grieve)

1. sad
   • late 12th century, anonymous, La Folie de Tristan d'Oxford, page 386 (of the Champion Classiques edition of Le Roman de Tristan, →ISBN, line 552:

     Mult ai le quer gref e marri.