gravamen

== English == === Etymology === Learned borrowing from Late Latin gravāmen (“physical inconvenience”) and Medieval Latin gravāmen (“grievance”), from Latin gravāre + -men (suffix forming neuter nouns of the third declension). Gravāre is the present active infinitive of gravō (“to burden, weigh down; to oppress”), from gravis (“heavy; grave, serious; hard, troublesome”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷreh₂- (“heavy”)) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs). The plural form gravamina is derived from Late Latin gravāmina. === Pronunciation === Singular: (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɡɹəˈveɪmɛn/, /-ˈvɑː-/, /-mən/, /ˈɡɹævəmɛn/, /-mən/ (General American) IPA(key): /ɡɹəˈveɪmən/, /-ˈvɑ-/, /ˈɡɹævəmɛn/, /ˈɡɹɑ-/ Rhymes: -eɪmən Hyphenation: gra‧va‧men Plural (gravamina): (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA(key): /ɡɹəˈveɪmɪnə/ Hyphenation: gra‧va‧mi‧na === Noun === gravamen (plural gravamens or gravamina) A grievance complained of. (Anglicanism) A document sent by the Lower House of Convocation to the Upper House to inform the latter of certain grievances in the church. The essence or ground of a complaint. (by extension) The essence or most important aspect of a piece of writing, a point of argument, etc.; the gist. Synonyms: see Thesaurus:essence, Thesaurus:gist (obsolete) A formal charge or complaint. ==== Translations ==== === References === === Further reading === gravamen on Wikipedia.Wikipedia == Catalan == === Etymology === Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin gravāmen. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): (Central) [ɡɾəˈβa.mən] IPA(key): (Balearic) [ɡɾəˈva.mən] IPA(key): (Valencia) [ɡɾaˈva.men] === Noun === gravamen m (plural gravamens) tax encumbrance ==== Related terms ==== gravar === Further reading === “gravamen”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026 == Latin == === Etymology === gravō +‎ -men. === Pronunciation === (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ɡraˈwaː.mɛn] (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [ɡraˈvaː.men] === Noun === gravāmen n (genitive gravāminis); third declension (Late Latin, Medieval Latin) (generally) burden (of health) discomfort, physical inconvenience (financially) imposition, financial burden grievance, complaint harassment ==== Declension ==== Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem). ==== Descendants ==== Italian: gravame Sicilian: gravami → Catalan: gravamen → English: gravamen → Spanish: gravamen === References === R. E. Latham, D. R. Howlett, & R. K. Ashdowne, editors (1975–2013), “gravamen”, in Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources‎[3], London: Oxford University Press for the British Academy, →ISBN, →OCLC “gravamen”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press “gravamen”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette. gravamen in Georges, Karl Ernst; Georges, Heinrich (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th edition, volume 1, Hahnsche Buchhandlung == Spanish == === Etymology === Borrowed from Medieval Latin gravāmen. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ɡɾaˈbamen/ [ɡɾaˈβ̞a.mẽn] Rhymes: -amen Syllabification: gra‧va‧men === Noun === gravamen m (plural gravámenes) tax encumbrance ==== Derived terms ==== === Further reading === “gravamen”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025