grever

grever c

1. plural indefinite of greve

From Old French grever, borrowed from Latin gravō, gravāre (with influence from Vulgar Latin grevis (cf. grief), from gravis (“heavy”)

• IPA^(key): /ɡʁə.ve/

grever

1. (transitive) to burden; put a burden on
2. (transitive, figuratively) to put a weight on (someone's shoulders)
3. (transitive) to hang over; weigh heavy over

This verb is conjugated mostly like the regular -er verbs (parler and chanter and so on), but the -e- /ə/ of the second-to-last syllable becomes -è- /ɛ/ when the next vowel is a silent or schwa -e-. For example, in the third-person singular present indicative, we have il grève rather than *il greve. Other verbs conjugated this way include lever and mener. Related but distinct conjugations include those of appeler and préférer.

• dégrever

• aggraver
• grief

• “grever” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

grever m

1. indefinite plural of greve

Borrowed from Latin gravāre, present active infinitive of gravō (“I make heavier”), with influence from Vulgar Latin grevis (cf. grief).

grever

1. to weigh down; to make heavier
2. to burden; to overwhelm with burden
3. to irritate; to bother; to annoy
   • circa 1180, Chrétien de Troyes, 'Lancelot ou le Chevalier de la charrette':

     M’an irai, se il ne vos grieve.

     I will leave, if it doesn't bother you

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-v, *-vs, *-vt are modified to f, s, t. This verb has a stressed present stem griev distinct from the unstressed stem grev. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

• grevain
• grief

• English: grieve
• French: grever