gravity

Noun

gravity (countable and uncountable, plural gravities)

1. (uncountable) Of an activity such as a ceremony, a person's conduct, etc.: the quality of being deeply serious and solemn, especially in a dignified manner; seriousness, solemnity; (countable, archaic or obsolete) a serious or solemn thing, such as a matter, a comment, etc.
   • Page. Yonder is a moſt reuerend Gentleman; vvho (be-like) hauing receiued vvrong by ſome perſon, is at moſt odds vvith his ovvne grauity and patience, that euer you ſavv. / [Robert] Shal[low]. I haue liued foure-ſcore yeeres, and vpvvard: I neuer heard a man of his place, grauity, and learning, ſo...c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
   • [Y]ou ſhould ſee all thoſe grand cenſors, that novv ſtile them [plays] ſuch vanities, flock to them for the maine grace of their grauities: […]c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Neuer Writer, to an Euer Reader. Newes.”, in The Famous Historie of Troylus and Cresseid. […] (First Quarto), London: […] G[eorge] Eld for R[ichard]...

   Synonyms:

   graveness, soberness, sobriety, weightiness

   Antonyms:

   flippancy, levity, unseriousness

2. (uncountable) Of an activity, situation, words, etc.: the quality of having important or serious consequences; importance, seriousness.
   • I hope you appreciate the gravity of the situation.
   • The iudges parte is to ſée that the puniſhemente paſſe not the grauitie of the offence.1533 (date written), Thomas More, “The Debellacyon of Salem and Bizance […]. Chapter XIIII.”, in Wyllyam Rastell [i.e., William Rastell], editor, The Workes of Sir Thomas More Knyght, […], London...
3. (obsolete, uncountable) Authority, influence, weight; also, used as a title for a person with authority or influence.
   • [T]ho' Guicciardin [Francesco Guicciardini] miſtakes in thoſe Points, vve may ſafely venture to depend on all the reſt of the Circumſtances as true Hiſtory: VVhy elſe ſhould they be mentioned by a Hiſtoriographer of ſuch Gravity?1728, J[oseph] Morgan, “Heyradîn Basha, or Barba-rossa II. Second Turkish Sovereign, and First Vice-roy of Algiers, for the Grand Signor”, in A Complete History of Algiers. […], London: […] J....
   • The principal officers of the empire vvere ſaluted, even by the ſovereign himſelf, vvith the deceitful titles of your Sincerity, your Gravity, your Excellency, your Eminence, your ſublime and vvonderful Magnitude, your illuſtrious and magnificent Highneſs.1781, Edward Gibbon, “Foundation of Constantinople—Political System of Constantine, and His Successors—Military Discipline—The Palace—The Finances”, in The History of the Decline and Fall of the...
4. (uncountable) The lowness in pitch of a note, a sound, etc.
5. (uncountable) Synonym of gravitation (“the fundamental force of attraction which exists between all matter in the universe that tends to draw bodies towards each other, due to matter causing the curvature of spacetime”); also, a physical law attempting to account for the phenomena of this force.
   • Aristotelian gravity Newtonian gravity
   • [T]his Gravity, the great Baſis of all Mechaniſm, is not it ſelf Mechanical; but the immediate Fiat and Finger of God, […] [N]o Compound Body in the viſible vvorld can ſubſiſt and continue vvithout Gravity, and Gravity do immediately flovv from a Divine Povver and Energy; […]1692 May 12, Richard Bentley, A Confutation of Atheism from the Structure and Origin of Humane Bodies. Part I. […], London: […] Tho[mas] Parkhurst […], and H[enry] Mortlock […], published 1692...

   Synonyms:

   gravitation

6. (countable, dated) Synonym of g-force (“the acceleration of a body relative to the freefall acceleration due to any local gravitational field, expressed in multiples of g0 (the mean acceleration due to gravity (sense 2.2.1) at the Earth's surface)”).

   Synonyms:

   g-force

7. (dated, uncountable) Dated except in centre of gravity: specific gravity or relative density (“a dimensionless measure which is the ratio of the mass of a substance to that of some reference substance (chiefly an equal volume of water at 4°C)”); also, heaviness, weight.
   • Thus one generation is alvvays the ſcorn and vvonder of the other; and the notions of the old and young are like liquors of different gravity and texture, vvhich can never unite.1750 November 23 (Gregorian calendar), Samuel Johnson, “No. 69. Monday, November 13. 1750.”, in The Rambler, volume III, Edinburgh: [[…] Sands, Murray, and Cochran]; sold by W. Gordon, C. Wright, J....

   Synonyms:

   weightfulness

8. (obsolete, uncountable) The tendency to have weight and thus move downwards, formerly believed to be an inherent quality of some objects.
   • […] Similitude of Subſtance vvill cauſe Attraction, vvhere the Body is vvholly freed from the Motion of Grauitie: For if that vvere taken avvay, Lead vvould dravv Lead, and Gold vvould dravv Gold, and Iron vvould dravv Iron, vvithout the helpe of the Load-Stone. But this ſame Motion of VVeight or...1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “VIII. Century. [Experiments Solitary, Touching Attraction by Similitude of Substance.]”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […]...
   • [I]t is not impoſſible (though hardly feiſible) by a ſingle Loadſtone to ſuſpend an iron in the ayre, the iron being artificially placed, and at a diſtance guided tovvards the ſtone, untill it find the nevvtrall point vvherein its gravity juſt equalls the magneticall quality, the on exactly...1646, Thomas Browne, “Concerning the Loadstone, therein of Sundry Common Opinions, and Received Relations, Naturall, Historicall, Medicall, Magicall”, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], London: […]...

   Antonyms:

   levity

9. (obsolete, rare, uncountable) The quality of being unable or unwilling to move quickly; heaviness, sluggishness.
   • [T]he learned authors of this vvorld ſay that about thirty yeares, man is in his full ſtate, and from that time, hee declineth to an age of more grauity and decay: […]1610, Saint Augustine, “Whether All of the Resurrection shalbe of the Stature of Christ”, in J[ohn] H[ealey], transl., St. Augustine, of the Citie of God: […], [London]: […] George Eld, →OCLC, book...