gravamens

Noun

gravamen (plural gravamens or gravamina)

1. A grievance complained of.
   • They have brought in two Papers, they ſay, in the nature of a Gravamen. I take it to be a Gravamen, and of ill conſequence for the time to come, when we have liberty to give in Reaſons to the Houſes, that they ſhould in writing give in Gravamen's to us.1645, Cornelius Burges, prolocutor pro tempore, The Ansvver of the Assembly of Divines by Authority of Parliament Now Sitting at Westminster. Unto the Reasons Given in to This Assembly by the...
   1. (Anglicanism) A document sent by the Lower House of Convocation to the Upper House to inform the latter of certain grievances in the church.
      • In the mean while, it was reſolved at the Synod, that ſince they muſt wait for the cited Remonſtrants, they would enter upon ſome of the Gravamina, or Points of Grievance which the Churches had laid before the Provincial Synods.1722, Gerard Brandt, “Book XXXIII”, in [anonymous], transl., The History of the Reformation and Other Ecclesiastical Transactions in and about the Low-countries, from the Beginning of the Eighth...
2. The essence or ground of a complaint.
   • [P]roperly, no evidence can be read here that was not read below, and if evidence, which ought to have been read there, was rejected, that ought to be the gravamen of the appeal.1788 April 19, Edward Thurlow, 1st Baron Thurlow, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, “Cox against Peele”, in The English Reports, volume XXIX (Chancery, volume IX), Edinburgh: William Green &...
3. (broadly) The essence or most important aspect of a piece of writing, a point of argument, etc.; the gist.
   • That neither Dr. Leask, nor myself, acted on such a principle, is the whole gravamen of our opponent's furious assaults upon us.1869 September 1, “The Glory of Christ in the Creation and Reconciliation of All Things. With Special Reference to the Doctrine of Eternal Evil. A Course of Sermons Preached at Eaton Chapel, Eaton...

   Synonyms:

   essence, nature, contour, ousia, quiddity, marrow, quintessence, whatness, bowels, sum

4. (obsolete) A formal charge or complaint.
   • In the ſaid conference, the ſaid lords communicated unto us further, that ſince the departure of the laſt poſt there hath declared to the reſident of Sweden, beſides the gravamina about ſome unequitableneſs and injuries committed concerning the tolls and paſſage of the Sound, that reparation and...1657 April 25, “The Dutch Embassadors in Denmarke to Ruysch”, in Thomas Birch, editor, A Collection of the State Papers of John Thurloe, Esq; Secretary, First, to the Council of State, and afterwards...