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aggravate: aggravate: [16] Aggravate originally meant literally ‘to weigh down’ or ‘to make heavier’ (it was modelled on Latin aggravare ‘to make heavier’, which in turn was based on gravis ‘heavy’, source of English gravity and grief; its first cousin is aggrieve [13], which came via Old French agrever). From the first it was generally used in a metaphorical sense, and by the end of the 16th century the meaning ‘to make worse’ was well established. The sense ‘to annoy’, which some purists still object to, dates from at least the early 17th century.
=> grave, gravity, grief
brave: brave: [15] The word which today means ‘courageous’ comes from one which meant ‘uncivilized, savage, wild’. English acquired brave via French brave, Italian bravo, and Vulgar Latin *brabus from Latin barbarus, source, via a different route, of English barbarous. Also from the Italian form come the exclamation bravo [18] and its derivative bravura [18], while Spanish bravada has contributed bravado [16].
=> bravado, bravo, bravura
caravan: caravan: [16] Caravans have no etymological connection with cars, nor with char-a-bancs. The word comes ultimately from Persian kārwān ‘group of desert travellers’, and came into English via French caravane. Its use in English for ‘vehicle’ dates from the 17th century, but to begin with it referred to a covered cart for carrying passengers and goods (basis of the shortened form van [19]), and in the 19th century it was used for the basic type of thirdclass railway carriage; its modern sense of ‘mobile home’ did not develop until the late 19th century. Caravanserai ‘inn for accommodating desert caravans’ [16] comes from Persian kārwānserāī: serāī means ‘palace, inn’, and was the source, via Italian, of seraglio ‘harem’ [16].
=> caravanserai, van
cravat: cravat: [17] The fashion for wearing scarves round the neck started in France in the 1650s. It was inspired by Croatian mercenaries employed there at that time, who regularly sported linen neckbands of that type. The Croats were called in French Cravates (the name comes via German Krabate from the original Serbo-Croat term Hrvat), and so their neckerchiefs came to be known as cravates too. English was quick to adopt the term.
crave: crave: see craft
craven: craven: [13] Craven originally meant simply ‘defeated’, and only gradually came to have the pejorative sense ‘cowardly’. It probably came from Old French cravante ‘defeated’, the past participle of the verb cravanter, which in turn came via Vulgar Latin *crepantāre from Latin crepāre; this meant ‘creak, rattle, crack’ (hence the English technical term crepitation [17]) but also secondarily ‘burst’ or ‘break’.
=> crepitation, crevice, decrepit
engrave: engrave: see grave
extravagant: extravagant: [14] An extravagant person is literally one who ‘wanders out of’ the proper course. The word comes from the present participle of medieval Latin extrāvagārī, a compound formed from the prefix extrā- ‘outside’ and vagārī ‘wander’ (source of English vagabond, vagary, and vagrant), which seems originally to have been used adjectivally with reference to certain uncodified or ‘stray’ papal decrees. This was the word’s original application in English, and the present-day meanings ‘wildly excessive’ and ‘spending too lavishly’ did not really establish themselves before the early 18th century.
=> vagabond, vagary, vagrant
grave: grave: Modern English has essentially two words grave. Grave ‘burial place’ goes back ultimately to prehistoric Indo-European *ghrebh- ‘dig’, which also produced Latvian grebt ‘hollow out’ and Old Church Slavonic pogreti ‘bury’. Its Germanic descendant had variants *grōb- (source of groove), *grub- (whence grub), and *grab-.

This last formed the basis of *graban, from which have come the verbs for ‘dig’ in most Germanic languages, including German graben, Dutch graven, Swedish gräva, and Danish grave. The English member of the family, grave, is now virtually obsolete as a verb (although its derivative engrave [16] survives); but its nominal relative grave, also formed from *grab-, is still very much with us. Grave ‘serious’ [16] comes via Old French grave from Latin gravis ‘heavy, important’, source also of English gravity and grief.

Its application to a backward-leaning accent (as in è) comes from the original use of such an accent-mark to indicate low or deep intonation.
=> engrave, groove, grub; gravity, grief
gravel: gravel: [13] Gravel is of Celtic origin. It has been traced to a prehistoric Celtic *gravo- ‘gravel’, never actually recorded but deduced from Breton grouan and Cornish grow ‘soft granite’. French borrowed it as grave ‘gravel, pebbles’ (perhaps the source of the English verb grave ‘clean a ship’s bottom’ [15], now encountered virtually only in graving dock, from the notion of ships being hauled up on to the pebbles of the seashore for cleaning). The Old French diminutive of grave was gravelle – whence English gravel.
gravity: gravity: [16] Gravity comes from Latin gravitās, a derivative of the adjective gravis ‘heavy, important’. This in turn goes back to a prehistoric Indo-European *gru-, which also produced Greek bárus ‘heavy’ (source of English baritone [19] and barium [19]), Sanskrit gurús ‘heavy, dignified’ (whence English guru [17]), Latin brūtus ‘heavy’, hence ‘cumbersome, stupid’ (from which English gets brute), Gothic kaurus ‘heavy’, and Latvian grūts ‘heavy, pregnant’.

English descendants of gravis, apart from gravity, include grave ‘serious’, gravid ‘pregnant’ [16], gravitate [17], grief, and grudge.
=> baritone, barium, brute, grave, grief, grudge, guru
gravy: gravy: [14] To begin with, the word gravy signified a sort of spiced stock-based sauce served with white meat; it was not until the 16th century that its modern sense ‘meat juices’ or ‘sauce made from them’ emerged. Its origins are problematical. It is generally agreed that its v represents a misreading of an n in the Old French word, grané, from which it was borrowed (modern v was written u in medieval manuscripts, and was often very hard to distinguish from n); but what the source of grané was is not clear.

The favourite candidate is perhaps grain (source of English grain), as if ‘sauce flavoured with grains of spice’, but graine ‘meat’ has also been suggested.
=> grain
raven: raven: English has two separate words raven. The bird-name [OE] is a general Germanic term, related to German rabe, Dutch raaf, and Danish ravn. It goes back to a prehistoric Germanic *khrabnaz or *khraben, which originated in an imitation of the raven’s harsh croaking. The verb raven ‘prey, plunder’ [15], nowadays encountered virtually only in its present participle ravening and the derived ravenous, goes back ultimately to Latin rapere ‘seize by force’.
=> rape, rapture, ravenous
ravenous: ravenous: [15] Ravenous was borrowed from Old French ravineux, a derivative of the verb raviner ‘seize by force’ (source of English raven, which nowadays appears mainly in its present participial form ravening). This came from Latin rapere ‘seize by force’, ancestor also of English rape. The central modern meaning of ravenous, ‘very hungry’, developed from the notion of predatory animals that ‘seize’ and eat their prey. Other English descendants of Latin rapere include rapacious, rapid, rapture, ravage, ravine, ravish [13], surreptitious, and usurp.
=> rape, rapture, raven
ravine: ravine: [15] Ravine and the now seldom encountered rapine ‘plunder’ [15] are essentially the same word. Both come ultimately from Latin rapīna ‘plunder’, a derivative of rapere ‘seize by force’ (from which English gets rape, rapid, rapture, ravenous, etc). This passed directly into English via Old French as rapine, but a variant Old French form also developed, ravine, whose meaning appears to have been influenced by Latin rapidus ‘rapid’.

It denoted ‘violent rush, impetus’ – which is how it was used in its brief and very spasmodic career in Middle English. It did not become firmly established as an English word until the 19th century, when it was reborrowed from French in the sense ‘gorge’ – originally as carved out by a ‘violent rush’ or torrent of water.
=> rape, rapine, rapture
ravioli: ravioli: see rape
ravish: ravish: see ravenous
travel: travel: [14] Travel and travail [13] are doublets – that is to say, they have a common ancestor, but have split into separate words. Their ultimate source is medieval Latin trepālium, a term for an instrument of torture made of three sharp stakes. This was a compound noun formed from Latin trēs ‘three’ and pālus ‘stake’ (source of English pale).

From it was formed a verb *trepāliāre ‘torture on the trepālium’, hence generally ‘torture’. This passed into Old French as travailler, where its reflexive use ‘put oneself to pain or trouble’ evolved to ‘work hard’. Its noun derivative travail ‘painful effort, hard work’ was borrowed by English as travail, and this quickly developed a new sense, ‘journey’ (presumably from the notion of a ‘wearisome journey’), which came to be distinguished by the spelling travel.
=> pale, three, travail
travesty: travesty: [17] Travesty and transvestite [20] are first cousins. Both are compounded of the Latin elements trāns- ‘across’ and vestīre ‘clothe’ (source of English vest, vestment, etc), but they are separate formations. Travesty comes ultimately from Italian travestire ‘change clothes so as to disguise’, formed from the Italian descendants of the Latin elements.

This was borrowed into French as travestir ‘ridicule’, and its past participle travesti gave English travesty. Transvestite is a new formation, coined in German in the first decade of the 20th century (although there are a couple of isolated instances of a verb transvest ‘cross-dress’ from the 1650s).
=> invest, transvestite, vest, vestment
aggravate (v.): 1520s, "make heavy, burden down," from past participle adjective aggravate "burdened; threatened" (late 15c.), from Latin aggravatus, past participle of aggravare "to render more troublesome," literally "to make heavy" (see aggravation). Earlier in this sense was aggrege (late 14c.). Meaning "to make a bad thing worse" is from 1590s; that of "exasperate, annoy" is from 1610s.
To aggravate has properly only one meaning -- to make (an evil) worse or more serious. [Fowler]
Related: Aggravated; aggravating. Phrase aggravating circumstances is recorded from 1790.
aggravated (adj.): 1540s, "increased, magnified," past participle adjective from aggravate. Meaning "irritated" is from 1610s; that of "made worse" is from 1630s. The earlier adjective was simply aggravate (late 15c.).
aggravation (n.): late 15c., from Middle French aggravation, from Late Latin aggravationem (nominative aggravatio), noun of action from past participle stem of Latin aggravare "make heavier," figuratively "to embarrass further, increase in oppressiveness," from ad "to" (see ad-) + gravare "weigh down," from gravis "heavy" (see grave (adj.)). Oldest sense is "increasing in gravity or seriousness;" that of "irritation" is from 1610s.
Almoravides: Muslim Berber horde from the Sahara which founded a dynasty in Morocco (11c.) and conquered much of Spain and Portugal. The name is Spanish, from Arabic al-Murabitun, literally "the monks living in a fortified convent," from ribat "fortified convent."
architrave (n.): 1560s, from Italian architrave, from archi- "beginning, origin" (see archon) + trave "beam," from Latin trabem (nominative trabs) "beam, timber," from PIE *treb- "dwelling" (see tavern).
bravado (n.): 1580s, from French bravade "bragging, boasting," from Italian bravata "bragging, boasting" (16c.), from bravare "brag, boast, be defiant," from bravo (see brave (adj.)). The English word was influenced in form by Spanish words ending in -ado.
brave (adj.): late 15c., from Middle French brave, "splendid, valiant," from Italian bravo "brave, bold," originally "wild, savage," possibly from Medieval Latin bravus "cutthroat, villain," from Latin pravus "crooked, depraved;" a less likely etymology being from Latin barbarus (see barbarous). A Celtic origin (Irish breagh, Cornish bray) also has been suggested.

Old English words for this, some with overtones of "rashness," included modig (now "moody"), beald ("bold"), cene ("keen"), dyrstig ("daring"). Brave new world is from the title of Aldous Huxley's 1932 satirical utopian novel; he lifted the phrase from Shakespeare ("Tempest" v.i.183).
brave (v.): "to face with bravery," 1776, from French braver, from brave (see brave (adj.)). Related: Braved; braving.
brave (n.): "North American Indian warrior," c. 1600, from brave (adj.), and compare bravo.
bravery (n.): 1540s, "daring, defiance, boasting," from French braverie, from braver "to brave" (see brave) or else from cognate Italian braveria, from bravare.
No Man is an Atheist, however he pretend it and serve the Company with his Braveries. [Donne, 1631]
As a good quality, attested from 1580s. Meaning "fine clothes" is from 1560s and holds the older sense.
bravo: as an exclamation, "well done!," 1761, from Italian bravo, literally "brave" (see brave (adj.)). Earlier it was used as a noun meaning "desperado, hired killer" (1590s). Superlative form is bravissimo.
It is held by some philologists that as "Bravo!" is an exclamation its form should not change, but remain bravo under all circumstances. Nevertheless "bravo" is usually applied to a male, "brava" to a female artist, and "bravi" to two or more. ["Elson's Music Dictionary," 1905]
bravura (n.): 1788, "piece of music requiring great skill," from Italian bravura "bravery, spirit" (see brave (adj.)). Sense of "display of brilliancy, dash" is from 1813.
caravan (n.): 1580s, from Middle French caravane, from Old French carvane, carevane "caravan" (13c.), or Medieval Latin caravana, picked up during the Crusades from Persian karwan "group of desert travelers" (which Klein connects to Sanskrit karabhah "camel"). Used in English for "vehicle" 17c., especially for a covered cart. Hence, in modern British use (from 1930s), often a rough equivalent of the U.S. mobile home.
caravansary (n.): alternative spelling of caravanserai.
caravanserai (n.): 1590s, carvanzara, "Eastern inn (with a large central court) catering to caravans," ultimately from Persian karwan-sarai, from karwan (see caravan) + sara'i "palace, mansion; inn," from Iranian base *thraya- "to protect" (see seraglio).
caravel (n.): 1520s, from Middle French caravelle (15c.), from Spanish carabela or Portuguese caravela, diminutive of caravo "small vessel," from Late Latin carabus "small wicker boat covered with leather," from Greek karabos, literally "beetle, lobster" (see scarab). Earlier form carvel (early 15c.) survives in carvel-built (adj.).
contravene (v.): 1560s, from Middle French contravenir "to transgress, decline, depart," from Late Latin contravenire "to come against," in Medieval Latin "to transgress," from Latin contra "against" (see contra) + venire "to come" (see venue). Related: Contravened; contravening.
contravening (n.): 1640s, verbal noun from contravene; from 1802 as a present participle adjective.
contravention (n.): 1570s, from Middle French contravention, from Vulgar Latin *contraventionem, noun of action from past participle stem of contravenire (see contravene).
cravat (n.): 1650s, from French cravate (17c.), from Cravate "Croatian," from German Krabate, from Serbo-Croatian Hrvat "a Croat" (see Croat). Cravats came into fashion 1650s in imitation of linen scarves worn by Croatian mercenaries in the French army in the Thirty Years War.
crave (v.): Old English crafian "ask, implore, demand by right," from North Germanic *krabojan (cognates: Old Norse krefja "to demand," Danish kræve, Swedish kräva); perhaps related to craft in its base sense of "power." Current sense "to long for" is c. 1400, probably through intermediate meaning "to ask very earnestly" (c. 1300). Related: Craved; craving.
craven (adj.): early 13c., cravant, perhaps from Old French crevante "defeated," past participle of cravanter "to strike down, to fall down," from Latin crepare "to crack, creak." Sense affected by crave and moved from "defeated" to "cowardly" (c. 1400) perhaps via intermediary sense of "confess oneself defeated." Related: Cravenly; cravenness.
cravings (n.): "urgent desires," 17c., from craving, verbal noun from crave.
deprave (v.): late 14c., "corrupt, lead astray, pervert," from Old French depraver (14c.) or directly from Latin depravare "distort, disfigure;" figuratively "to pervert, seduce, corrupt," from de- "completely" (see de-) + pravus "crooked." Related: Depraved; depraving.
depravity (n.): 1640s; see deprave + -ity. Earlier in same sense was pravity.
Dravidian (adj.): 1856, "pertaining to the race in southern India or the languages spoken by them," from Sanskrit Dravidah, name of a region in southern India, + -ian.
engrave (v.): mid-15c. (implied in ingraved "engraved"), from en- (1) + obsolete verb grave "carve" (see grave (v.)) or from or modeled on French engraver. Related: Engraved; engraven; engraving.
engraver (n.): 1580s, agent noun from engrave.
engraving (n.): c. 1600, "act of cutting designs, etc. on a hard surface," verbal noun from engrave (v.). Meaning "that which is engraved" is from 1610s; meaning "impression taken from an engraved plate" is from 1803.
extravagance (n.): 1640s, "an extravagant act," from French extravagance, from Late Latin extravagantem (see extravagant). Specifically of wasteful spending from 1727. Meaning "quality of being extravagant" is from 1670s. Extravagancy, "a wandering," especially "a wandering from the usual course," is attested from c. 1600, now rare.
extravagant (adj.): late 14c., from Medieval Latin extravagantem (nominative extravagans), originally a word in Canon Law for uncodified papal decrees, present participle of extravagari "wander outside or beyond," from Latin extra "outside of" (see extra-) + vagari "wander, roam" (see vague). Extended sense of "excessive, extreme, exceeding reasonable limits" first recorded 1590s, probably via French; that of "wasteful, lavish, exceeding prudence in expenditure" is from 1711. Related: Extravagantly. Wordsworth ("Prelude") used extravagate (v.).