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Definition: Gravity |
GravityNoun1. The force of attraction between all masses in the universe; especially the attraction of the earth's mass for bodies near its surface; "gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love"--Albert Einstein. 2. A manner that is serious and solemn. 3. A solemn and dignified feeling. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "gravity" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1258. (references) |
Etymology: Gravity \Grav"i*ty\, noun; plural Gravities. [Latin gravitas, from gravis heavy; compare to French gravit['e]. See Grave, a., Grief.]. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Aerospace | 1. Viewed from a frame of reference fixed in the earth, force imparted by the earth to a mass which is at rest relative to the earth. Since the earth is rotating, the force observed as gravity is the resultant of the force of gravitation and the centrifugal force arising from this rotation and the use of an earthbound rotating frame of reference. It is directed normal to sea level and to its geopotential surfaces. See virtual gravity, geopotential height, standard gravity. The magnitude of the force of gravity at sea level decreases from the poles, where the centrifugal force is zero, to the equator, where the centrifugal force is a maximum but directed opposite to the force of gravitation. This difference is accentuated by the shape of the earth, which is nearly that of an oblate spheroid of revolution slightly depressed at the poles. Also, because of the asymmetric distribution of the mass of the earth, the force of gravity is not directed precisely toward the earth's center. The magnitude of the force of gravity is usually called either gravity, acceleration of gravity, or apparent gravity. 2. = acceleration of gravity.3. By extension, the attraction of any heavenly body for any mass; as Martian gravity. (references) |
Geological | The attraction between two masses, such as the earth and an object on its surface. Commonly referred to as the acceleration of gravity. Changes in the gravity field can be used to infer information about the structure of the earth's lithosphere and upper mantle. (references) |
Mining | A. The force by which substances are attracted to each other, or fall to Earth. See also:law of gravitation b. The effect on any body in the universe of the inverse-square-law attraction between it and all other bodies and of any centrifugal force that may act on the body because of its motion in an orbit c. The force exerted by the Earth and by its rotation on unit mass, or the acceleration imparted to a freely falling body in the absence of frictional forces d. A general term for API gravity or Baume gravity of crude oi. (references) |
Physics | A mutual physical force attracting two bodies. (references) |
Slang | Adjective. Source: Gravity: importance, mass. This word was taken and is similar to its denotative meaning however the group applies it to a specific subject. Definition: A peice of poetry that has particular significance. Context: When describing the merit of a peice. Usually a response that is complimentary. Social Source: Counter Culture Da Vincis. Source: Compiled by The University of Oregon. (additional references) |
Space | (or "gravitation"), one of 4 main forces in the universe (others: electro-magnetic, and 2 types of nuclear force). Every mass exerts a gravitational pull on any other mass, inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. This was first proposed by Newton, based on his calculation of orbits of planets and of the Moon. (references) |
| The force that pushes an object. An engine works to create enough thrust to help lift the airplane and counteract the force of gravity. (references) | |
| The force by which a planet or other such body tends to draw objects toward its center. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Gravitation is the force of attraction that exists between all particles with mass in the universe. It is the force of gravity which is responsible for holding objects onto the surface of planets and, with Newton's law of inertia is responsible for keeping objects in orbit around one another.
"Gravity is the force that pulls you down." -- Merlin in Disney's The Sword in the Stone
Merlin was right, of course, but gravity does much more than just hold you in your chair. It was the genius of Isaac Newton to recognize that. Newton recalled in a late memoir that while he was trying to figure out what kept the Moon in the sky, he saw an apple fall to the ground in his orchard, and he realized that the Moon was not suspended in the sky, but continuously falling, like a cannon ball that was shot so fast that it continuously misses the ground as it falls away due to the curvature of the Earth.
If one wishes to be precise, one should distinguish between gravitation, the universal force of attraction, and gravity, which is the resultant, on the Earth's surface, of the attraction by the earth's masses, and the centrifugal pseudo-force caused by the Earth's rotation. In casual discussion, gravity and gravitation are often used interchangeably.
Any two objects exert equal and oppositely directed gravitational pull on each other.
Speed of gravity: Einstein's theory of relativity predicts that the speed of gravity (defined as the speed at which changes in location of a mass are propagated to other masses) should be consistent with the speed of light. In 2002, the Fomalont-Kopeikin experiment produced measurements of the speed of gravity which matched this prediction. However, this experiment has not yet been widely peer-reviewed, and is facing criticism from those who claim that Fomalont-Kopeikin did nothing more than measure the speed of light in a convoluted manner.
Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation
Newton explains, "Every object in the Universe attracts every other object with a force directed along the line of centers for the two objects that is proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the separation between the two objects."
Newton eventually published his still famous law of universal gravitation in his Principia Mathematica as follows:
where:
Strictly speaking, this law applies only to point-like objects. If the objects have spatial extent, the true force has to be found by integrating the forces between the various points.
- F = gravitational force between two objects
- m1 = mass of first object
- m2 = mass of second object
- r = distance between the objects
- G = universal constant of gravitation
Vector Form
The above form is a simplified version. It is more properly expressed as vector equation. (All quantities in bold represent vector quantities in what follows.) The form below is vectorially complete:
where:
For the force on mass two, simply multiply by -1.
- is the force on by
- and are the masses
- and are the position vectors of their respective masses
- is the gravitational constant
The primary difference between the two formulations is that the second form uses the difference in position to construct a vector that points from one mass to the other, and then divides that vector by its length to prevent it from changing the magnitude of the force.
Newton's Reservations
It's important to understand that while Newton was able to formulate his law of gravity in his monumental work, he was not comfortable with it because he never, in his words, "assigned the cause of this power." In all other cases, he used the phenomenon of motion to explain the origin of various forces acting on bodies, but in the case of gravity, he was unable to experimentally identify the motion that produces the force of gravity. Moreover, he refused to even offer a hypothesis as to the cause of this force on grounds that to do so was contrary to sound science.
He lamented the fact that 'philosophers have hitherto attempted the search of nature in vain' for the source of the gravitational force, as he was convinced 'by many reasons' that there were 'causes hitherto unknown' that were fundamental to all the 'phenomena of nature.' These fundamental phenomena are still under investigation and, though hypotheses abound, the definitive answer is yet to be found. While it is true that Einstein's hypotheses (see below) are successful in explaining the effects of gravitational forces more precisely than Newton's in certain cases, he too never 'assigned the cause of this power,' in his theories. It is said that in Einstein's equations, 'matter tells space how to curve, and space tells matter how to move,' but this new idea, completely foreign to the world of Newton, does not enable Einstein to assign the 'cause of this power' to curve space anymore than the Law of Universal Gravitation enabled Newton to assign its cause. In his own words:
If science is eventually able to discover the cause of the gravitational force, Newton's wish could eventually be fullfiled as well.
- I wish we could derive the rest of the phenomena of nature by the same kind of reasoning from mechanical principles; for I am induced by many reasons to suspect that they may all depend upon certain forces by which the particles of bodies, by some causes hitherto unknown, are either mutually impelled towards each other, and cohere in regular figures, or are repelled and recede from each other; which forces being unknown, philosophers have hitherto attempted the search of nature in vain.
Comparison with electromagnetic force
The gravitational attraction of protons is approximately a factor 1036 weaker than the electromagnetic repulsion. This factor is independent of distance, because both forces are inversely proportional to the square of the distance. Therefore on an atomic scale mutual gravity is negligible. However, the main force beween common objects and the earth and between celestial bodies is gravity; this is due to the fact that they (at least one of the two) are electrically neutral to a high degree: even if in both bodies there were a surplus or deficit of only one electron for every 1018 protons and neutrons this would already be enough to cancel gravity (or in the case of a surplus in one and a deficit in the other: double the attraction).
The relative weakness of gravity can be demonstrated with a small magnet picking up pieces of iron. The small magnet is able to overwhelm the gravitational force of the entire earth.
Gravity is small unless at least one of the two bodies is large, but the small gravitational force exerted by bodies of ordinary size can fairly easily be detected through experiments such as the Cavendish torsion bar experiment.
Self-gravitating system
A self-gravitating system is a system of masses kept together by mutual gravity. An example is a star.
History
Nobody knows for sure if Newton's recollection about the apple was accurate, but his insight is the same nevertheless. Philosophers had thought since the Greeks that the "natural" movement of stars, planets, the Sun and the Moon was circular, Kepler established that orbits are actually elliptical, but still thought that the movements of the planets was dictated by some "divine force" emanated from the sun, but Newton realized that the same force that causes a thrown rock to fall back to the Earth keeps the planets in orbit of the Sun, and the Moon in orbit of the Earth.
Newton was not alone in making significant contributions to the understanding of gravity. Before Newton, Galileo Galilei corrected a common misconception, started by Aristotle, that objects with different mass fall at different rates. To Aristotle, it simply made sense that objects of different mass would fall at different rates, and that was enough for him. Galileo, however, actually tried dropping objects of different mass at the same time. Aside from differences due to friction from the air, Galileo observed that all masses accelerate the same. Using Newton's equation, , it is plain to us why:
The above equation says that mass will accelerate at acceleration under the force of gravity, but divide both sides of the equation by and:
Nowhere in the above equation does the mass of the falling body appear. When dealing with objects near the surface of a planet, the change in r divided by the initial r is so small that the acceleration due to gravity appears to be perfectly constant. The acceleration due to gravity on Earth is usually called g, and its value is about 9.8 m/s2 (or 32 ft/s2). Galileo didn't have Newton's equations, though, so his insight into gravity's proportionality to mass was invaluable, and possibly even affected Newton's formulation on how gravity works.
However, across a large body, variations in can create a significant tidal force.
Einstein's General Theory of Relativity
Newton's formulation of gravity is quite accurate for most practical purposes. It has a few problems with it though:
For the first two of these reasons, Einstein and Hilbert developed a new theory of gravity called General Relativity, published in 1915. This theory predicts that the presence of matter "warps" the local space-time environment, so that apparently "straight" lines through space and time have the properties we think of "curved" lines as having.
- It assumes that changes in the gravitational force are transmitted instantaneously when positions of gravitating bodies change. However, this contradicts the fact that there exists a maximum velocity at which signals can be transmitted (speed of light in vacuum).
- Assumption of absolute space and time contradicts Einstein's theory of Special relativity.
- It predicts that light is deflected by gravity only half as much as observed.
- It does not explain gravitational waves or black holes.
- Under newtonian gravity (with instantaneous transmission of gravitational force), if the Universe is Euclidean, static, of uniform, average, positive density and infinite, then the total gravitational force on a point is a divergent series. In other words, newtonian gravity is inconsistent with a Universe which is Euclidean, static, of uniform, average, positive density and infinite.
Although General Relativity is, as a theory, more accurate than Newton's law of gravity, it also requires a significantly more complicated mathematical formalism. Instead of describing the effect of gravitation as a "force", Einstein introduced the concept of curved space-time in which bodies move along curved trajectories.
Today General Relativity is accepted as the standard description of classical gravitational phenomena. (Alternative theories of gravitation exist but are more complicated than General Relativity.) General Relativity is consistent with all currently available measurements. For weak gravitational fields and bodies moving at slow speeds at small distances, Einstein\'s General Relativity gives almost exactly the same predictions as Newton's law of gravitation. Crucial experiments that justified the adoption of General Relativity over Newtonian gravity were the gravitational redshift, the deflection of light rays by the Sun, and the precession of the orbit of Mercury.
More recent experimental confirmations of General Relativity were gravitational waves from orbiting binary stars, the existence of neutron stars and black holes, gravitational lensing, and the convergence of measurements in observational cosmology to an approximately flat model of the observable Universe, with a matter density parameter of approximately 30% of the critical density and a cosmological constant of approximately 70% of the critical density.
LeSage's theory
See Gravity (LeSage) for an alternative theory.
Quantum Mechanics and Waves
Gravity is the only one of the four fundamental forces of nature that stubbornly refuses to be quantised (the other three: Electromagnetism, the Strong Force, and the Weak Force, can be quantised). Quantisation means that the force is measured in discrete steps that cannot be reduced in size, no matter what; alternatively, that gravitational interaction is trasmitted by particles called gravitons. Scientists have theorized about the graviton for years, but have been frustrated in their attempts to find a consistent quantum theory for it. Many believe that string theory holds a great deal of promise to unify general relativity and quantum mechanics, but this promise has yet to be realized.
See also: Gravitational binding energy, Gravity Research Foundation, Weight.
In fuels, gravity is the density of a liquid. Gravity is expressed in degrees, with lower numbers indicating heavier liquids and higher numbers indicating lighter liquids.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Gravity."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Gravity is a city located in Taylor County, Iowa. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 218.Geography
Gravity is located at 40°45'33" North, 94°44'39" West (40.759096, -94.744221)1. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.8 km² (0.3 mi²). 0.8 km² (0.3 mi²) of it is land and none of it is covered by water.Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there are 218 people, 85 households, and 64 families residing in the city. The population density is 280.6/km² (729.6/mi²). There are 103 housing units at an average density of 132.6/km² (344.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 99.08% White, 0.00% African American, 0.00% Native American, 0.00% Asian, 0.46% Pacific Islander, 0.46% from other races, and 0.00% from two or more races. 3.21% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There are 85 households out of which 29.4% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.0% are married couples living together, 11.8% have a female householder with no husband present, and 24.7% are non-families. 22.4% of all households are made up of individuals and 11.8% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.56 and the average family size is 2.98. In the city the population is spread out with 28.0% under the age of 18, 5.0% from 18 to 24, 27.1% from 25 to 44, 20.6% from 45 to 64, and 19.3% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 38 years. For every 100 females there are 111.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 98.7 males. The median income for a household in the city is $25,000, and the median income for a family is $30,000. Males have a median income of $25,625 versus $20,536 for females. The per capita income for the city is $13,312. 18.1% of the population and 16.2% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 11.8% are under the age of 18 and 5.4% are 65 or older.Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Gravity, Iowa."
| The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted. | |||
| Entry | Source | Expression | Field |
| GRACE | English | Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment | Geography |
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |||
Synonyms: GravitySynonyms: graveness (n), gravitation (n), gravitational attraction (n), gravitational force (n), soberness (n), sobriety (n), solemnity (n), somberness (n). (additional references) |
| Antonym: levity (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Centrality | Center of gravity, center of pressure, center of percussion, center of oscillation, center of buoyancy; metacenter. |
Dejection | Demureness; Adjective: gravity, solemnity; long face, grave face. |
Density | Specific gravity; hydrometer, areometer. |
Excitability | Staidness; Adjective: gravity, sobriety, Quakerism; philosophy, equanimity, stoicism, command of temper; self-possession, self-control, self-command, self-restraint, ice water in one's veins; presence of mind. |
Gravity | Noun: gravity, gravitation; weight; heaviness. Adjective: specific gravity; pondorosity, pressure, load; burden, burthen; ballast, counterpoise; lump of, mass of, weight of. |
Importance | Gravity, seriousness, solemnity; no joke, no laughing matter; pressure, urgency, stress; matter of life and death. |
Power | Pressure; conductivity; elasticity; gravity, electricity, magnetism, galvanism, voltaic electricity, voltaism, electromagnetism; atomic power, nuclear power, thermonuclear power; fuel cell; hydraulic power, water power, hydroelectric power; solar power, solar energy, solar panels; tidal power; wind power; attraction; vis inertiae, vis mortua, vis viva; potential energy, dynamic energy; dynamic friction, dynamic suction; live circuit, live rail, live wire. |
Recession | Electrical attraction, electricity, static electricity, static, static cling; magnetism, magnetic attraction; gravity, attraction of gravitation. |
Vigor | Noun: vigor, power, force; boldness, raciness; Adjective: intellectual, force; spirit, point, piquance, piquancy; verve, glow, fire, warmth; strong language; gravity, sententiousness; elevation, loftiness, sublimity. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Gravity |
| English words defined with "gravity": Center of gravity, centre of gravity ♦ gravity gradient, Gravity railway, gravity wave ♦ solar gravity, specific gravity. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "gravity": acceleration of gravity, apparent gravity, apparent specific gravity, artificial gravity, ash-specific gravity curve ♦ Bouguer gravity, bulk specific gravity ♦ center of gravity limits ♦ gravity anomaly, gravity band, gravity classifying, gravity gradiometer, gravity inclines, gravity instruments, Gravity Perception, gravity prospecting, gravity road, gravity screen, gravity solution, gravity survey ♦ International Gravity Formula ♦ lunar gravity ♦ normal gravity ♦ OBSERVER HELPER, GRAVITY PROSPECTING ♦ recorder helper, gravity prospecting ♦ standard gravity, standard value of gravity. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "gravity": Pregravitate. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | But I draw the line at defying gravity, so good luck (Wild Wild West; writing credit: Jim Thomas; John Thomas) Time to say hello to gravity. (Die Another Day; writing credit: Neal Purvis) It was like a bird of rarest spun heaven metal, or like silvery wind flowing in a space-ship, gravity all nonsense now. As I slooshied knew such lovely pictures (A Clockwork Orange; writing credit: Stanley Kubrick) Only when you have felt the full gravity of choice should you dare to question my judgment (Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver; writing credit: Amy Hennig) Calculate the velocity, v, in relation to the trajectory, t, in which g, gravity, of course remains a constant (Seinfeld; writing credit: Andreas Lenze; Bea Schmidt) | |
Lyrics | Oh, the gravity of the situation (Clockwork Creep; performing artist: 10CC) And gravity won't pull you through (The Look Of Love; performing artist: ABC) Of love and gravity it pulls you so strong (If I Fall You're Going Down With Me; performing artist: Dixie Chicks) Snap back to reality, Oh there goes gravity (Lose Yourself; performing artist: EMINEM) | |
Clever | The burdens of the world on my back lightens the world not one whit, while removing them greatly decreases my specific gravity. (references; author: unknown) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Gravity (2003) Geometry and Gravity (2001) The Anti Gravity Room (1996) Defy Gravity (1990) Prisoners of Gravity (1989) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
References | |||
Books | |||
Periodicals |
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Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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High Tech |
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Consumer Goods | |||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Zero Gravity Facility. Credit: NASA. |  | Reduced Gravity Walking Simulator. Credit: NASA. |
 | Gravity Maps of Venus from Magellan (Mercator Projection). Credit: NASA. |  | Brown Gravity Meter - a pendulum apparatus. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |
 | Observing gravity inside the cave at Station Jaggar Party of E. J. Brown. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |  | Sam Fordyce taking readings with gravity meter. Credit: Paths Less Taken - NOAA at the Ends of the Earth. |
 | Harley Nygren with gravity meter - Even when in the Lower 48 he was sent to cold places. Credit: Paths Less Taken - NOAA at the Ends of the Earth. |  | In: "The Meteor Expedition," by F. Spiess, German Atlantic Expedition 1925-1927. One of the earliest pictures of gravity coring operations. Plate 55. Library Call Number C/La S755. Credit: Sailing for Science - the NOAA Fleet Then and Now. |
 | Figure 26. Sigsbee gravity driven plankton trap. Devised by Lieutenant Charles D. Sigsbee of the USN on the Coast and Geodetic Survey Ship BLAKE in 1880. It was meant to collect live specimens of plankton between precisely specified depths. It was first tested on the Blake between 9 and 45 meters in 1880. Credit: Sailing for Science - the NOAA Fleet Then and Now. |  | Figure 62. Leger bathometer designed by the engineer Maurice Leger working in collaboration with Prince Albert I of Monaco. It was designed to measure small variations in the force of gravity and relate them to the depth of water. Credit: Sailing for Science - the NOAA Fleet Then and Now. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
Charles Caleb Colton | Reply to wit with gravity, and to gravity with wit. |
| Levity is often less foolish and gravity less wise than each of them appears. | |
Joseph Addison | As vivacity is the gift of women, gravity is that of men. |
Michel Eyquem De Montaigne | The most profound joy has more of gravity than of gaiety in it. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
Magna Carta | 1215 | A freeman shall not be amerced for a slight offense, except in accordance with the degree of the offense; and for a grave offense he shall be amerced in accordance with the gravity of the offense, yet saving always his "contentment"; and a merchant in the same way, saving his "merchandise"; and a villein shall be amerced in the same way, saving his "wainage" if they have fallen into our mercy: and none of the aforesaid amercements shall be imposed except by the oath of honest men of the neighborhood. (reference) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency | Douglas Adams | Gravity, said Dirk with a slightly dismissive shrug, "yes, there was that as well, I suppose |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | Their specific gravity in the human race results from something more than a combat |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Exposure to the weightlessness of space is known to temporarily disrupt balance on return to Earth and to gravity. (references) | |
The patient lies in prescribed positions that allow gravity to drain different parts of the lung. This is usually done after inhaling an aerosol. (references) | ||
Developed for persons with cystic fibrosis, postural drainage uses gravity, along with light blows to the chest wall, to help clear secretions from the lungs. (references) | ||
Economic History | Malaysia | Treatment methods are primarily conventional and include flocculation, sedimentation, gravity filtration, and disinfection. (references) |
Colombia | Propylene, styrene, polyethylene of 0.94 gravity or more, polyethylene of less than 0.94, linear low-density, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, and polyesters are the best prospects for U.S. suppliers. (references) | |
Pakistan | Most promising subsectors and estimated market size for 2002 are: Polyethylene, gravity less than 0.94 ($20 million); Polyethylene, gravity above 0.94 ($25 million); Polypropylene ($35 million); Polystyrene ($10 million); Polyesters in primary form ($12 million); Silicones in Primary forms ($5 million). (references) | |
Human Rights | Seychelles | Depending on the gravity of the offense, criminal cases are heard by magistrates' court or the Supreme Court. (references) |
Guatemala | The gravity of the case caused the Supreme Court to assign a judge to work with the Prosecutor's Office in the legal process of stripping her of her immunity from prosecution. (references) | |
Trade | Sri Lanka | For container cargo, the weight, center of gravity, and sling or grab points may be marked to encourage careful handling. (references) |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | INAUSPICIOUSLY, adv. In an unpromising manner, the auspices being unfavorable. Among the Romans it was customary before undertaking any important action or enterprise to obtain from the augurs, or state prophets, some hint of its probable outcome; and one of their favorite and most trustworthy modes of divination consisted in observing the flight of birds -- the omens thence derived being called auspices. Newspaper reporters and certain miscreant lexicographers have decided that the word -- always in the plural -- shall mean "patronage" or "management"; as, "The festivities were under the auspices of the Ancient and Honorable Order of Body-Snatchers"; or, "The hilarities were auspicated by the Knights of Hunger." A Roman slave appeared one day Before the Augur. "Tell me, pray, If --" here the Augur, smiling, made A checking gesture and displayed His open palm, which plainly itched, For visibly its surface twitched. A denarius (the Latin nickel) Successfully allayed the tickle, And then the slave proceeded: "Please Inform me whether Fate decrees Success or failure in what I To-night (if it be dark) shall try. Its nature? Never mind -- I think 'Tis writ on this" -- and with a wink Which darkened half the earth, he drew Another denarius to view, Its shining face attentive scanned, Then slipped it into the good man's hand, Who with great gravity said: "Wait While I retire to question Fate." That holy person then withdrew His scared clay and, passing through The temple's rearward gate, cried "Shoo!" Waving his robe of office. Straight Each sacred peacock and its mate (Maintained for Juno's favor) fled With clamor from the trees o'erhead, Where they were perching for the night. The temple's roof received their flight, For thither they would always go, When danger threatened them below. Back to the slave the Augur went: "My son, forecasting the event By flight of birds, I must confess The auspices deny success." That slave retired, a sadder man, Abandoning his secret plan -- Which was (as well the craft seer Had from the first divined) to clear The wall and fraudulently seize On Juno's poultry in the trees. G.J. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
Grover Cleveland | 1885-1889; 1893-1897 | Fully impressed with the gravity of the duties that confront me and mindful of my weakness, I should be appalled if it were my lot to bear unaided the responsibilities which await me. |
Lyndon B. Johnson | 1963-1969 | I hope those debates will be marked by new proposals and by a seriousness that matches the gravity of the questions themselves. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Gravity" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 99.14% of the time. "Gravity" is used about 1,160 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 99.14% | 1,150 | 6,674 |
| Noun (proper) | 0.78% | 9 | 117,287 |
| Noun (common) | 0.09% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 1,160 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes names derived from the word "gravity". | |||
| Name | Gender | Language | Meaning |
| Kishi | N/A | Biblical | His gravity |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references.
| |||
1. Gravity, IA (city, FIPS 32520) |
Expressions using "gravity": acceleration of gravity ♦ attraction of gravity ♦ center of gravity ♦ center of gravity limits ♦ center of gravity position ♦ centre of gravity ♦ demand for road use, accidents and their gravity ♦ earth's gravity ♦ force of gravity ♦ fraught with gravity ♦ gravity arch dam ♦ gravity assist ♦ gravity band ♦ Gravity battery ♦ gravity dam ♦ gravity extraction ♦ gravity fault ♦ gravity feed ♦ gravity force ♦ gravity gradient ♦ gravity meter ♦ Gravity Perception ♦ Gravity railway ♦ gravity survey ♦ gravity system ♦ gravity transport ♦ gravity wave ♦ gravity wind ♦ law of gravity ♦ position of the center of gravity ♦ solar gravity ♦ specific gravity ♦ the law of gravity ♦ theory of gravity ♦ universal gravity ♦ zero gravity. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "gravity": gravity-assist, gravity-defying, gravity-fed, gravity-feed, gravity-operated, gravity-opposing, gravity-percussion, gravity-shift, gravity-the. | |
Ending with "gravity": anti-gravity. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
gravity | 1,213 | gravity specific water | 33 |
zero gravity | 259 | gravity moon | 31 |
specific gravity | 209 | bong gravity make | 31 |
anti gravity | 152 | law of gravity | 30 |
gravity boot | 139 | zero gravity recliner | 30 |
gravity bong | 111 | microplanet gravity | 28 |
gravity conveyor | 102 | gravity bongs | 27 |
gravity game | 96 | club dance gravity zero | 26 |
gravity kill | 86 | teton gravity research | 26 |
control gravity technology | 75 | gravity windscreens zero | 25 |
gravity hill | 75 | electric generator gravity | 24 |
gravity mad | 68 | earth gravity | 23 |
zero gravity chair | 65 | gravity skateboard | 22 |
center of gravity | 60 | urine specific gravity | 22 |
fighting gravity | 58 | gravity theory | 22 |
quantum gravity | 45 | gravity lyrics mad | 21 |
gravity traction | 44 | casting die gravity | 21 |
gravity tile | 40 | gravity mars | 21 |
club gravity zero | 40 | api gravity | 21 |
gravity news reader | 39 | gravity force | 21 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "gravity"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | gravitet, tërheqje e gjithësishme, seriozitet (demureness, reliability, seriousness, sobriety, solemnity), rëndim (exacerbation), rëndesë (attraction, gravitation, heaviness, heft, ponderosity, ponderousness, weightiness), forca e gravitetit. (various references) | |
Arabic | وقار (deportment, dignity, lordliness, poise, solemnity, veneration), خطورة (acuteness, riskiness, seriousness, severity), جاذبية الارض, الثقل النوعي (specific gravity), ثقل (avoirdupois, baggage, ballast, heaviness, importance, luggage, ponderosity, significance, weight, weightiness), رزانة (countenance, plainness, sagacity, soberness, sobriety, stoicism). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | улегналост (mellowness, sedation), сериозност (demureness, seriousness, solemnity), сериозен характер, тегло (avoirdupois, ponderability, weight), тежест (authority, burden, heaviness, letterweight, load, onus, ponderability, ponderosity, pressure, solemnity, weight), критичен характер, внушителност (nobleness, portliness), важност (account, concern, concernment, import, importance, interest, magnitude, materiality, moment, pith, pomposity, self-importance, seriousness, significance, solemnity, stress, value, weight), притегляне (adduction, attraction, gravitation, pull). (various references) | |
Chinese | 重力 . (various references) | |
Czech | gravitace (attraction, gravitation, graviti), závažnost (consequence, magnitude, relevance, relevancy, weight), váha (authority, Libra, scale, strength, weigh, weighing machine, weight), vážnost (estimation, reverence, seriousness, severity, solemnity, sternness), tíže (weight), slavnostnost. (various references) | |
Danish | tyngdekraft (gravitation). (various references) | |
Dutch | zwaartekracht. (various references) | |
Esperanto | gravito. (various references) | |
Farsi | وقار (Dignity, Elegance, Poise, Serenity, Solemnity), سنگینی (Avoirdupois, Ballast, Lethargy, Weight), جاذبه زمین , جدیت (Enthusiasm), اهمیت (Circumstance, Dimension, Emphasis, Importance, Magnitude, Moment, Notability, Pith, Significance, Stress, Valor), ثقل (Exertion), شدت (Acrimony, Duress, Extremity, Intensity, Severity, Stringency, Vehemence, Violence), درجه کشش , دشواری وضع . (various references) | |
Finnish | vetovoima (attraction, gravitational pull, pull), raskaus (heaviness, pregnancy, weight), painovoima (force of gravitation), arveluttavuus (hazard, precariousness, seriousness). (various references) | |
French | pesanteur. (various references) | |
Frisian | swiertekrêft. (various references) | |
German | schwerkraft (force of gravity, gravitation, gravitational force), schwere (badness, difficulty, gravitation, hardness, heaviness, laboriousness, massiness, ponderousness, power, richness, seriousness, severeness, severity, slowness, strength, weight), Anziehungskraft (appeal, attraction, force of attraction, magnetism, pull). (various references) | |
Greek | βαρύτητα (beefiness, heaviness, leadenness, stodginess, weight, weightiness). (various references) | |
Hebrew | חומר" (difficulty, harshness, rigor, rigour, severity, sternness, strictness, stringency), כוב" ראש (seriousness, solemnity), כוב" (heaviness, mass, weight), כוח משיכ", "רצ " (seriousness), רצי ות (earnestness, seriousness, severity, solemnity). (various references) | |
Hungarian | súly (bob, burden, caliber, calibre, heft, load, onus, plummet, ponderosity, ponderousness, poundage, purport, weight), súlyosság (massiveness, ponderosity, seriousness, severity), nehézségi erő (force of gravity, pull of gravity), gravitáció (gravitation, pull of gravity). (various references) | |
Indonesian | gravitasi (gravitation), gaya berat, kegawatan (criticalness, danger), daya tarik (affinity, glamour, traction). (various references) | |
Italian | gravit (g, graveness, momentousness, seriousness, severity). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 厳粛 (austerity, dignity, rigor, seriousness, severity, solemnity). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | そう"" (impressiveness, solemnity), い"りょく, '"しゅく (austerity, dignity, rigor, seriousness, severity, solemnity), じゅうりょく, じゅうようせい (importance). (various references) | |
Korean | 중 (gravitational, Gravities). (various references) | |
Manx | tromaghys, trimmid (bounteousness, burdensomeness, charge, density, density of fog, emphasis, graveness, hardness, hardness of work, harshness, harshness of punishment, heaviness, highness, importance, intenseness, pressure, seriousness, severity, soundness, stress, weight, weightiness), feeydys, fastaght. (various references) | |
Norwegian | tyngde, alvor. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | avitygray.(various references) | |
Portuguese | gravidade (ponderosity, seriousness, severity, solemnity, weight). (various references) | |
Romanian | gravitate (austerity, bumptiousness, depth, seriousness, severity, soberness, solemnity), gravitaţie (gravitation), seriozitate (demureness, earnest, earnestness, seriousness, sobriety), importanţã (account, amount, bearing, concern, consequence, consideration, extent, greatness, importance, interest, magnitude, matter, moment, pith, prominence, relevance, relevancy, relief, self-importance, significance, store, value, weight), ţinutã serioasã. (various references) | |
Russian | серьезность (demureness, earnest, seriousness). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | gravitacija (gravitation), teža (gravitation). (various references) | |
Spanish | gravedad (g, heaviness, nastiness, seriousness, severity). (various references) | |
Swedish | tyngdkraft (gravitation), tyngd (Bob, heaviness, load, ponderosity, weighed down, weight), allvar (austerity, earnest, earnestness, seriousness). (various references) | |
Turkish | yerçekimi (force of gravity, geomagnetism, gravitation, gravitational), yerçekim, peslik, ciddilik, ağirlik (weight), ağırlık (arduousness, avoirdupois, dullness, force of gravity, heaviness, heft, massiveness, plummet, ponderosity, richness, severity, slowness, weight, weightiness), ağırbaşlılık (dignity, equanimity, imperturbability, knighthood, sedateness, seriousness, solemnity, staidness), önem (accent, account, amount, consequence, consideration, emphasis, import, importance, interest, magnitude, matter, moment, prominence, regard, significance, significancy, stature, strength, stress, substantiality, value, weight), çekim (attraction, conjugation, declension, draw, filming, flection, flexion, flexional, force of gravity, gravitation, gravitational, inflection, inflexion, pull, shoot, shooting, shot). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | урочистість (ceremony, solemnity, sonority), серйозність (demureness, earnest, sadness, seriousness, severity), сила ваги, важливість (account, amount, concern, consequence, earnest, import, importance, magnitude, moment, notability, pregnancy, seriousness, significance, significancy), небезпечність (insecurity, riskiness), поважність (dignity, respectability, venerability). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | vẻ nghiêm nghị tính nghiêm trọng, trọng lượng vẻ nghiêm trang, trọng lực, sự hấp dẫn (affinity, attraction, attractiveness, gravitation, magnetization). (various references) | |
Welsh | dwyster (solemnity). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Avestan | 200-600 | garô. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | 1 Timothy Chapter 3, Verse 4 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Tou idiou oikou kalwV proistamenon tekna econta en upotagh meta pashV semnothtoV |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Suae domui bene praepositum filios habentem subditos cum omni castitate |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | And haue sones suget with al chastite; |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | And one that rueleth his awne housse honestly havynge chyldren vnder obedience with all honeste. |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | Ruling his house well, having his children under control with all serious behaviour; |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | 1 Timothy Chapter 3, Verse 4 |
| Cebuano | Kinahanglan magamaayo ang iyang pagdumala sa iyang kaugalingong panimalay, nga magadumala sa iyang mga anak aron sila magamasinugtanon ug magamatinahuron sa tanang paagi; |
| Croatian | da svojom kuæom dobro upravlja i sinove drži u pokornosti sa svom ozbiljnošæu - |
| Danish | en Mand, som forestår sit eget Hus vel, som har Børn, der ere lydige med al Ærbarhed; |
| Dutch | Die zijn eigen huis wel regeert, zijn kinderen in onderdanigheid houdende, met alle stemmigheid; |
| Finnish | vaan sellainen, joka oman kotinsa hyvin hallitsee ja kaikella kunniallisuudella pitää lapsensa kuuliaisina; |
| French | Il faut qu`il dirige bien sa propre maison, et qu`il tienne ses enfants dans la soumission et dans une parfaite honnêteté; |
| German | der seinem eigenen Hause wohl vorstehe, der gehorsame Kinder habe mit aller Ehrbarkeit, |
| Haitian Creole | Se pou l' konn mennen kay li byen, fè timoun li yo obeyi l' ak respè. |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Ia harus tahu mengatur rumah tangganya dengan baik, dan mendidik anak-anaknya untuk taat dan hormat kepadanya. |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | melainkan yang memerintahkan isi rumahnya dengan sempurna, dan yang memeliharakan anak-anaknya bertaat kepadanya dengan sopan santunnya; |
| Italian | Sappia dirigere bene la propria famiglia e abbia figli sottomessi con ogni dignit , |
| Latvian | Bet labam sava nama pârvaldniekam, kam bçrni paklausa pilnîgâ tikumîbâ. |
| Maori | Kai pai tana tohutohu i tona whare; e mea ana i ana tamariki kia ngohengohe ki a ia, kia nui te mahara: |
| Norwegian | en som styrer sitt eget hus vel og har lydige barn med all sømmelighet |
| Rumanian | sq-wi chiverniseascq bine casa, wi sq-wi yinq copiii kn supunere cu toatq cuviinya. |
| Russian | ИПТПЫП Х ТБЧМСАЭЙК "ПНПН УЧПЙН, "ЕФЕК УП"ЕТЦБЭЙК Ч ПУМХЫБОЙЙ УП ЧУСЛПА ЮЕУФОПУФША; |
| Shuar | Ni shuarin shiir akupeakui ni Uchirísha umin tura shiir awajkartin ártiniaiti. |
| Swahili | anapaswa awe mtu awezaye kuongoza vema nyumba yake, na kuwafanya watoto wake wawe watii kwa heshima yote. |
| Swedish | Han bör väl förestå sitt eget hus och hålla sina barn i lydnad, med all värdighet; |
| Uma | Kana na'inca mpo'atoro' lompe' tauna to tida hi rala tomi-na, pai' ana' -na kana mengkoru hi totu'a-ra pai' mpobila' -ra. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words ending with "gravity": antigravity, microgravity, supergravity. (additional references) | |
| |
"Gravity" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Garrity, gavit, glavlit, grafity, grairy, granity, gravety, gravit, gravita, gravite, Travyth. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "gravity" (pronounced gra"vutē) |
| 6 | -r a" v u t ē | depravity. |
| 5 | -a" v u t ē | cavity. |
| 4 | -v u t ē | activity, aggressivity, brevity, captivity, conductivity, connectivity, creativity, exclusivity, expressivity, festivity, hyperactivity, hypersensitivity, inactivity, insensitivity, levity, longevity, nativity, negativity, objectivity, oversensitivity, passivity, proclivity, productivity, progressivity, radioactivity, reactivity, receptivity, reflexivity, relativity, retroactivity, selectivity, sensitivity, subjectivity, superconductivity, velvety. |
| 3 | -u t ē | absurdity, acceptability, accessibility, ability, abnormality, accountability, acidity, actuality, acuity, adaptability, admissibility, adversity, advisability, affinity, affordability, agility, alacrity, alkalinity, ambiguity, amenity, amiability, amity, analyticity, animosity, annuity, anonymity, antiquity, anxiety, applicability, atrocity, audacity, austerity, authenticity, authority, availability, banality, barbarity, believability, bestiality, biodiversity, bisexuality, brutality, calamity, capability, capacity, causality, celebrity, centrality, charity, chastity, civility, clarity, collegiality, commodity, commonality, community, comparability, compatibility, complexity, complicity, comprehensibility, conditionality, confidentiality, conformity, congeniality, congruity, constitutionality, continuity, convertibility, credibility, credulity, criminality, criticality, crotchety, culpability, curiosity, cyclicality, debility, deductibility, deformity, deity, deniability, density, dependability, deputy, desirability, dexterity, dignity, dimensionality, disability, discontinuity, irresponsibility, irritability, laity, laxity, legality, disparity, dissimilarity, disunity, diversity, divinity, docility, domesticity, duality, ductility, duplicity, durability, eccentricity, elasticity, electability, electricity, eligibility, enforceability, enmity, enormity, entity, equality, equanimity, equity, eternity, ethnicity, eventuality, extraterritoriality, extremity, facility, fallibility, falsity, familiarity, fatality, feasibility, Felicity, femininity, ferocity, fertility, fidelity, finality, flammability, flexibility, fluidity, formality, fragility, fraternity, frivolity, frugality, functionality, futility, generality, generosity, geniality, gentility, gratuity, gullibility, heredity, heterogeneity, heterosexuality, hilarity, homogeneity, homosexuality, hospitality, hostility, humanity, humidity, humility, identity, illegality, illiquidity, immaturity, immobility, immorality, immortality, immunity, impartiality, impersonality, impossibility, impropriety, impunity, impurity, inability, inaccessibility, incapacity, incivility, incompatibility, incongruity, incredulity, indemnity, indestructibility, indignity, individuality, inequality, inequity, inevitability, infallibility, inferiority, infertility, infidelity, infinity, infirmity, inflexibility, informality, ingenuity, inhumanity, insanity, insecurity, instability, instrumentality, insularity, integrity, intensity, invincibility, invisibility, invulnerability, irrationality, irregularity, legibility, lethality, liability, liberality, liquidity, lividity, locality, majority, malleability, maneuverability, marketability, masculinity, materiality, maternity, maturity, mediocrity, mendacity, mentality, minority, miscibility, mobility, modality, modernity, monstrosity, morality, morbidity, mortality, motility, multiplicity, municipality, musicality, mutuality, nationality, necessity, neutrality, nobility, Nonconformity, nonentity, nonutility, normality, notoriety, nudity, obesity, obscenity, obscurity, oddity, opacity, opportunity, originality, overcapacity, palatability, parity, partiality, particularity, paternity, paucity, peculiarity, permeability, perpetuity, perplexity, personality, perversity, piety, plausibility, plurality, polarity, polity, pomposity, popularity, portability, possibility, posterity, practicality, predictability, principality, priority, probability, probity, profanity, profitability, promiscuity, propensity, proportionality, propriety, prosperity, proximity, publicity, punctuality, purity, quality, quantity, rapidity, rarity, rationality, readability, reality, reciprocity, regularity, reliability, religiosity, respectability, responsibility, rickety, rigidity, salinity, sanctity, sanity, scarcity, seasonality, security, senility, seniority, sensibility, sensuality, sentimentality, serendipity, serenity, severity, sexuality, similarity, simplicity, sincerity, sobriety, society, solemnity, solidarity, solidity, sorority, speciality, specificity, spirituality, spontaneity, stability, sterility, stupidity, suitability, superfluidity, superiority, supermajority, surety, survivability, susceptibility, sustainability, technicality, temerity, tenacity, theatricality, timidity, tonality, totality, toxicity, tranquility, transferability, Trinity, triviality, turbidity, ubiquity, unanimity, unavailability, unfamiliarity, uniformity, unity, universality, university, unpopularity, unpredictability, unreality, unreliability, uppity, utility, validity, vanity, variability, variety, varsity, velocity, venality, veracity, Verity, versatility, viability, vicinity, virginity, virility, virtuosity, viscosity, visibility, vitality, volatility, voracity, vulgarity, vulnerability. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-g-i-r-t-v-y" | |
-2 letters: gravy, tragi, virga. | |
-3 letters: airt, airy, arty, gait, girt, grat, gray, grit, gyri, ragi, tivy, tray, trig, vagi, vair, vary, viga, vita, yagi. | |
-4 letters: air, ait, art, gar, gat, gay, git, ivy, rag, rat, ray, ria, rig, rya, tag, tar, tav, try, var, vat, via, vig, yar. | |
-5 letters: ag, ai, ar, at, ay, it. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-g-i-r-t-v-y" | |
+2 letters: gravidity, vulgarity. | |
+3 letters: gravimetry. | |
+4 letters: antigravity, overstaying, travestying. | |
+5 letters: aggressivity, derogatively, figuratively, microgravity, supergravity. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Quotations: Familiar | 9. Quotations: Historic 10. Quotations: Fiction 11. Quotations: Non-fiction 12. Quotations: Speeches | 13. Usage Frequency 14. Names: Derived from 15. Cities 16. Expressions | 17. Expressions: Internet 18. Translations: Modern 19. Translations: Ancient 20. Bible Trace | 21. Abbreviations 22. Acronyms 23. Derivations 24. Rhymes | 25. Anagrams 26. Bibliography |
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