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GRAVE

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Originally appearing in Volume V12, Page 382 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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GRAVE . (I) (From a See also:

common See also:Teutonic verb, meaning " to dig "; in O. Eng. grafan; cf. Dutch graven, Ger. graben), a See also:place dug out of the See also:earth in which a dead See also:body is laid for See also:burial, and hence any place of burial, not necessarily an excavation (see FUNERAL See also:RITES and BURIAL). The verb " to grave," meaning properly to dig, is particularly used of the making of incisions in a hard See also:surface (see See also:ENGRAVING). (2) A See also:title, now obsolete, of a See also:local administrative See also:official for a township in certain parts of See also:Yorkshire and See also:Lincolnshire; it also sometimes appears in the See also:form " grieve," which in See also:Scotland and See also:Northumberland is used for See also:sheriff (q.v.), and also for a See also:bailiff or under-steward. The origin of the word is obscure, but it is probably connected with the See also:German See also:graf, See also:count, and thus appears as the second See also:part of many Teutonic titles, such as See also:landgrave, See also:burgrave and See also:margrave. " Grieve," on the other See also:hand, seems to be the See also:northern representative of O.E. gerefa, See also:reeve; cf. " sheriff " and " count." (3) (From the See also:Lat. gravis, heavy), weighty, serious, particularly with the See also:idea of dangerous, as applied to diseases and the like, of See also:character or temperament as opposed to See also:gay. It is also applied to See also:sound, See also:low or deep, and is thus opposed to " acute." In See also:music the See also:term is adopted from the See also:French and See also:Italian, and applied to a See also:movement which is See also:solemn or slow. (4) To clean a See also:ship's bottom in a specially constructed See also:dock, called a " graving dock." The origin of the word is obscure; according to the New See also:English See also:Dictionary there is no See also:foundation for the connexion with " See also:greaves " or " See also:graves," the refuse of See also:tallow, in See also:candle or See also:soap-making, supposed to be used in " graving " a ship. It may be connected with an O.

Fr. grave, mod. grbve, See also:

shore.

End of Article: GRAVE

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