noun
gravamen
Gravamen (noun) means a complaint or wrong that someone formally raises.
noun
1
A complaint or wrong that someone formally raises.
"In 1239, the bishops presented gravamina to the papal legate detailing 'prejudices of ecclesiastical liberty by the lord king and his bailiffs'."
— Joseph Creamer, St Edmund of Canterbury and Henry III in the Shadow of Thomas Becket (2013)
2
A document by which the Lower House of Convocation notifies the Upper House of particular grievances within the church.
3
(law) The main point or basis of a complaint.
"As we all know, Harry’s gravamen, the nub of his incandescent fury, is how he and Meghan were sold out by the institution."
— Tina Brown, Spare by Prince Harry review – magical thinking in Montecito (2023)
4
The central point of a piece of writing or an argument; its main idea.
"Prescription drug suppliers are more likely to add even unverified reports that stand as aberrations in pharmacoepidemiologic studies when they associate a use of the product with an appreciable gravamen of injury."
— Sidney H. Willig, Impact of Drug Products Liability on Needs for Pharmacoepidemiologic Studies and Expertise (1989)
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Etymology
Learned borrowing from Late Latin gravāmen (“physical inconvenience”) and Medieval Latin gravāmen (“grievance”), from Latin gravāre + -men (suffix forming neuter nouns of the third declension). Gravāre is the present active infinitive of gravō (“to burden, weigh down; to oppress”), from gravis (“heavy; grave, serious; hard, troublesome”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷreh₂- (“heavy”)) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs). The plural form gravamina is derived from Late Latin gravāmina.
Related words
Rhymes for gravamen
See all rhymes for gravamen →Frequently asked questions
What is the meaning of gravamen?
"gravamen" (noun) means a complaint or wrong that someone formally raises.
What is another word for gravamen?
Other words for "gravamen" include crux, quintessence, quiddity, ousia, essence, whatness.
What are the different meanings of gravamen?
"gravamen" has 3 main meanings: 1. A complaint or wrong that someone formally raises; 2. A document by which the Lower House of Convocation notifies the Upper House of particular grievances within the church; 3. (law) The main point or basis of a complaint.
