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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."

Examples of gravamen in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Righteous anger over the double-standard would, however, have been a good reason for the House to avoid making insurrection the gravamen of its impeachment article. — Andrew C. Mccarthy, National Review, "The Trump Impeachment Is Deeply Flawed, but He Deserves Conviction," 17 Jan. 2021

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'gravamen.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.