Gravamen is not a word you hear every day, but it does show up occasionally in modern-day publications. It comes from the Latin verb
gravare, meaning "to burden," and ultimately from the Latin adjective
gravis, meaning "heavy."
Fittingly,
gravamen refers to the part of a grievance or complaint that gives it weight or substance. In legal contexts,
gravamen is used, synonymously with
gist, to refer to the grounds on which a legal action is sustainable.
Gravis has given English several other weighty words, including
gravity,
grieve, and the adjective
grave, meaning "important" or "serious."
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