greave

English

Pronunciation
  • enPR: grēv, IPA(key): /ɡɹiːv/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Homophone: grieve
  • Rhymes: -iːv

Etymology 1

From Middle English greve, from Old English grǣfe, grǣfa (“bush, bramble, grove, thicket, copse, brush-wood (for burning), fuel”), probably related to Proto-Germanic *grōbō (“ditch, hole”).

Cognate with Scots greve, greave (“grove”). Compare also Proto-Germanic *grainiz (“twig”), of unknown origin, whence Old Norse grein (“branch, bough”). Closely related to Old English grāf, grāfa (“grove”). See grove.

Noun

greave (plural greaves)

  1. (obsolete) A bush; a tree; a grove.
  2. (obsolete) A bough; a branch.

Etymology 2

From Middle English greve, greyve, from Old English grǣfa, grēfa (“pit, cave, hole, grave, trench”), from Proto-Germanic *grōbō (“pit, ditch”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ- (“to dig, scratch, scrape”). Cognate with North Frisian groop (“pit, sewer, gutter”), Dutch groef (“pit, hole, gutter”), German Grube (“pit, hole”), Icelandic gröf (“pit, grave”).

Noun

greave (plural greaves)

  1. (obsolete) A ditch or trench.

Etymology 3

From Middle English greve, grayve, from Old French greve (“shin”), of uncertain origin; possibly from Egyptian Arabic جورب‎ (“stocking, leg cover”).[1] Watkins suggests a connection with greve (“part in the hair”), due to the resemblance of the medial ridge to a part in the hair, from graver (“to part (the hair); engrave”), of Germanic origin, from Frankish *graban (“to engrave”);[2] if so, related to Etymology 2 above.

Noun

greave (plural greaves)

  1. A piece of armour that protects the leg, especially the shin, and occasionally the tops of the feet.
    • For quotations using this term, see Citations:greave.
Alternative forms
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 4

From greaves (“residue left after animal fat has been rendered”).

Verb

greave (third-person singular simple present greaves, present participle greaving, simple past and past participle greaved)

  1. (nautical, transitive) To clean (a ship's bottom); to grave.

See also
  • greaves (“residue left after animal fat has been rendered”)

References
  1. Klein, Dr. Ernest, A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, Amsterdam: Elsevier Scientific Publishing Co., 1971.
  2. “greave”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.

Anagrams
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.