aggrieve

/əɡˈɹiv/uh-GREEV
/əɡˈɹiv/uh-GREEV

Meaningheavy

Common meaning: cause someone distress or a sense of injustice

Journey through time

  1. Aryan root · reconstructed√GAR‘oppress’No written record; from Skeat’s list of Aryan roots, no. 95, p. 733 · scan
  2. Latingravis‘heavy’source
  3. Old Frenchmeaning shiftsheavy → to overwhelmagrever‘to overwhelm’source
  4. Middle Englishmeaning shiftsto overwhelm → burden or hurtagreuen‘burden or hurt’source
  5. Englishmeaning shiftsburden or hurt → cause someone distress or a sense of injusticeaggrieve‘cause someone distress or a sense of injustice’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin gravis ‘heavy’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Skeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), entry AGGRIEVE, p. 12 · dictionary scan

Roots

Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app