From Latin 'gravitās' (heaviness), from 'gravis' (heavy) — first meaningdignity, before Newton applied it to the physical force.
Definition
The force that attracts a body toward the center of the earth or toward any other physical body having mass; extreme or alarming importance, seriousness.
The Full Story
Latin16th centurywell-attested
From Latin gravitās (weight, heaviness, seriousness), from gravis (heavy, weighty, serious, important). Gravis descends from thePIEroot *gʷreh₂- (heavy), which is spectacularly well-attested across Indo-European. From this root came Greek barys (heavy — hence English barometer, baritone, barium), Sanskrit gurú- (heavy, weighty, venerable — hence guru, literally a weighty or venerable teacher), Gothic kaurus (heavy), Old English cræft (strength, skill — possibly related). The Latin adjective gravis developed a
a philosophical term into the cornerstone of classical physics. Newton chose the existing Latin word gravitās rather than coining a neologism, anchoring his revolutionary concept in familiar language. The adjective grave (serious) entered English separately via the same Latin root. Key roots: gravis (Latin: "heavy, weighty, serious"), *gʷreh₂- (Proto-Indo-European: "heavy").