According to the OED, the etymology of the word ‘grave’ illuminates that it originates from Germanic dissent and can be traced back to the Old English word ‘graef’, the Dutch word ‘graf’, and the German word ‘grab’. Adding on, grave also comes from the Old English root, ‘grafan’, which means to dig, or to engrave. Similarly, the Old High German word graban has meanings such as to dig and to carve. The modern versions of the word ‘grave’ include the noun, adjective, and verb forms. The noun form means a place of burial, whereas the adjective form has a meaning of having weight or importance; Being influential as well as respected. The verb form means to dig, to bury, or to carve. However, through some extensive research upon literary works, the meanings of the word grave are seemingly endless, as it is displayed in different works with a wide assortment of implications.
To start, the word ‘grave’ can have meanings related to time; Such as aging and maturity. For example in the play Hamlet, Shakespeare portrays the word in this way when Claudius states, “A very riband in the cap of youth- / Yet needful too; for youth no less becomes / The light and careless livery that it wears / Than settled age his stables and his weeds, / Importing health and graveness.” (4.7.88-92). Here, grave represents the passing of time, specifically maturity. Claudius is speaking of how the youth are associated with casual attire through ‘careless livery’ whereas formal attire promotes ‘graveness’, or maturity. Adding on Shakespeare once again employs the word grave with the meaning of time in his poem The Rape of Lucrece, when he writes, “There pleading might you see grave Nestor stand, / As ‘twere encouraging the Greeks to fight; / Making such sober action with his hand.” (1470-1472). The word grave in this passage is used to describe Nestor, specifically representing that he is of old age, which is in fact a true and a proven statement. In addition, Shakespeare again uses this version of the word grave in his play Coriolanus, when the character Menenius pleads, “Hath thus stood for his country: therefore, / please you, / Most reverend and grave elders, to desire / The present consol, and last general /.” (2.2.42-45). When Menenius is speaking to the elders, he refers to them as ‘grave’ meaning old and probably wise as well, since those are traits commonly associated with the elders at the time. These examples thus prove how the word ‘grave’ can also embody meanings relating to time and not only the modern ones used today.
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Next, the word ‘grave’ also has the ability to uphold the meaning of seriousness. This can be seen within Shakespeare’s poem Venus and Adonis, when he composes, “I KNOW not how I should offend in dedicating my / unpolished lines to your lordship, nor how the world will / censure me for choosing so strong a prop to support so weak a / burden only, if your honour seem but pleased, I account / myself highly praised, and vow to take advantage of all idle / hours, till I have honoured you with some graver labour.” (6-14). Grave is employed in this passage to mean serious and worthy. If the king is pleased with the author’s poem in which he has prepared, the author will write a ‘graver’ or more serious and worthy poem to dedicate to the king because he is of great importance. Furthermore, Shakespeare also employs this meaning of the word grave in his play Antony and Cleopatra, when Caesar proclaims, “Good brother, / Let me request you off: our graver business / Frowns at this levity.” (2.7.141-143). Grave in this context means serious and of importance. Caesar tells Antony to come off the boat because they have ‘graver’ or serious business and that it’s no time for ‘levity’ or messing around due to its high importance. Henceforth, in another one of Shakespeare’s plays titled Coriolanus, the word grave with a meaning of seriousness is displayed when the character Menenius says, “I can’t say your worships have / delivered the matter well, when I find the ass in / compound with the major part of your syllables: and / though I must be content to bear with those that say / you are reverend grave men, yet they lie deadly that / tell you you have good faces.” (2.1.54-59). The word grave in this context can be interpreted as great and serious. Menenius is insulting the two gentlemen by talking of how their heads are getting mixed up with their asses and that they are not ‘grave’ as in great and serious in any sense whatsoever; Which happens to be contradictory to what others believe of them. He then continues the insults by calling them ugly as well.
Very similarly, in Harper Lee’s famous fiction novel To Kill a Mockingbird, the word grave is used an abundance of times, many of which associate with the meaning of seriousness. To start, when Atticus was talking to Scout, “Atticus’s face was grave. “Has anybody been calling you that?” (Lee 59). Before this, Scout asks Atticus what it meant to be a nigger-lover; Which then led to Atticus’s face being ‘grave’, or very serious and in this context angered too. This is because at the time being a ‘nigger-lover’ was seen in a negative context and was often frowned upon by the majority. Again, the same definition of the word grave is shown when Lee writes that “Constance Jackson had better watch her ways-she was in grave danger for quarreling with her neighbors; she had erected the only spite fence in the history of the Quarters.” (Lee 65). In this passage, the word grave is used to exemplify that Constance Jackson was in some ‘grave’ or serious and relevant danger due to the arguments she has had with her neighbors in the past. Continuing on, Lee once again uses the word grave with this same meaning when she prints, “Jem got up and padded across the rug. He motioned me to follow. He led me to his room and closed the door. His face was grave.” (Lee 73). Jem and Scout were witnessing an encounter between Aunt Alexandrea and Atticus that was getting a little intense, and so they went into another room. Entering the room, Jem’s face was ‘grave’ in a sense that he was very serious about the situation that was taking place. Likewise, later on within the novel when Scout is thinking to herself she narrates to the reader, “The most ridiculous example I can think of is that the people who run public education promote the stupid and idle along with the industrious-because all men are created equal, educators will gravely tell you, the children left behind suffer terrible feelings of inferiority.” (Lee 109). ‘Gravely’ in this passage once again represents the meaning seriously, as Scout is explaining how educators will ‘gravely’ or seriously emphasize that all men are created equal. However, in this situation the meaning is being used in a sarcastic sense, as Scout establishes this in the beginning when calling this the ‘most ridiculous example’ she can think of when referring to the use of this phrase. And finally, further on when Scout is having a conversation with Mrs. Maudie in front of the class, she makes a smart remark and tells the reader, “I hadn’t meant to be funny, but the ladies laughed. My cheeks grew hot as I realized my mistake, but Mrs. Maudie looked gravely down at me.” (Lee 122). The use of the word ‘gravely’ in this passage can be associated with the words sternly and seriously; As Scout has made a somewhat disrespectful remark that the teacher is not pleased with. So, she describes Mrs. Maudie’s look down on her as ‘gravely’ or with a stern and serious intent. Overall the word ‘grave’ can also clearly be used as a description word relating to the word seriousness and can as well be used to illuminate emotions that one is experiencing.
At the same time, the word ‘grave’ can also entail the meanings of not being able to, out of reach, and lost forever. For instance, in the poem Venus and Adonis, Shakespeare embodies, “‘Give me my hand,’ saith he, ‘why dost thou feel it?’ / ‘Give me my heart,’ saith she, ‘and thou shalt have it: / O, give it me, lest thy hard heart do steel it, / And being steel’d, soft sighs can never grave it: / Then love’s deep groans I never shall regard, / Because Adonis’ heart hath made mine hard.’” (397-402). Grave in this context is referring to not being able to, and almost impossible. The characters are speaking of how they are intertwined to each other through love, and the man proclaims that if the woman doesn’t let go of his hand, his heart will be hardened with eternal love; Thus leading to his heart becoming ‘grave’ as in impossible to detach or not being able to fall in love forevermore. Also in another one of Shakespeare’s plays titled All’s Well That Ends Well, the use of grave suggests a meaning of being lost and gone forever when the King proclaims, “Our rash faults / Make trivial price of serious things we have, / Not knowing them until we know their grave: / Oft our displeasures, to ourselves unjust, / Destroy our friends and after weep their dust / Our own love waking cries to see what’s done, / While shame full late sleeps out the afternoon.” (5.3.71-77). The passage is explaining how many people don’t always realize what they have and the gifts that are within their lives until they notice they’re ‘grave’ or that they’re gone and lost forever. Therefore, through these two examples, the word ‘grave’ can be further employed to represent loss, not being able to achieve something, and being set in stone.
Moreover, ‘grave’ may also contain the meanings of deadly as well as silence. To illustrate, in Shakespeare’s play Antony and Cleopatra, Antony is speaking, “Betray’d I am: / O this false soul of Egypt! This grave charm,- / Whose eye beck’d forth my wars, and call’d them home; / Whose bosom was my crownet, my chief end,- / Like a right gipsy, hath, at fast and loose, / Beguiled me to the very heart of loss.” (4.12.26-31). The use of grave in this passage means deadly. When Antony is describing the queen, he proclaims how he has been betrayed by this ‘grave’ or deadly ‘charm’ or witch. He then furthers his point by telling of how she’s the one who decides whether he wins or loses in war, and that she has tricked him into being in a sort of way her puppet. Equally important, in another one of Shakespeare’s plays titled Coriolanus, the meaning of the word ‘grave’ is portrayed differently as seen when Cominius says to Marcius, “You shall not be / The grave of your deserving; Rome must know / The value of her own:” (1.9.23-25). Within this passage, the word grave can be associated with the word silence. Cominius is explaining to Marcius that he shouldn’t be the ‘grave’ or the silencing of his praise which he deserves from the people of Rome. Finally, through these two instances as well, the meaning of the word grave is expressed in different versions with different meanings.
The word ‘grave’ may only have around three main modern definitions that are listed within the OED, but it also has a copious amount of other meanings as well, as identified in various famous literary works. This also applies to an abundance of other words; So, in conclusion, a word may only have a certain number of ‘set’ definitions, but there is an eternity of alternative connotations that the word can adopt as well based upon the context in which it is used.
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