# gravity

Pronunciation: say "GRA-vi-tee" /ˈɡɹævɪti/

## Noun

1. The phenomenon by which objects have weight on Earth, and the similar effect found on other bodies such as the Moon.
   - Simple: The pull that makes objects fall toward the ground and gives them weight.
   - _Gravity keeps our feet planted firmly on the ground._
   - _The weaker gravity on Mars would make a person feel far lighter._
2. The universal force that two bodies exert on each other as a result of their masses.
   - Simple: The force that pulls any two objects toward each other because they have mass.
   - _Gravity binds galaxies together across enormous distances._
   - _Newton showed that the gravity between two masses weakens as they move farther apart._
3. The quality of being grave; a serious, weighty character in a person, situation, or manner.
   - Simple: A serious mood or quality that makes people treat something as important, not as a joke.
   - _The gravity of the judge's tone silenced the courtroom._
   - _No one underestimated the gravity of the crisis facing the town._
4. Any theory that seeks to account for weight and the mutual attraction of massive objects, such as Newtonian or Aristotelian gravity.
   - Simple: A scientific idea that tries to explain weight and why objects pull on each other.
   - _Newtonian gravity predicted planetary motion with remarkable accuracy for centuries._
   - _General relativity offered a gravity in which mass bends spacetime itself._
5. The state or condition of having weight; the heaviness of a body.
   - Simple: The property of having weight, or how heavy something is.
   - _The gravity of the anchor dragged the mooring rope taut._
   - _Despite the gravity of the bronze bell, the crane lifted it onto the tower without strain._
6. The ratio of a substance's density to that of a reference substance, usually water.
   - Simple: How heavy something is compared with the same amount of water.
   - _The gravity of the battery acid tells a mechanic its state of charge._
   - _Geologists used the mineral's gravity to tell it apart from cheaper imitations._
7. The quality of lowness in the pitch of a note.
   - Simple: How low a musical note sounds.
   - _The organ's deepest pipes give the chord its gravity._
   - _A bassoon lends gravity to the orchestra's lower register._

## Origin

A learned borrowing from Latin "gravitās" ("weight"), from "gravis" ("heavy"), and a doublet of "gravitas." It compares with French "gravité" and is first attested in the 16th century.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/gravity (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).