Word of the Day

: November 20, 2008

gravid

adjective GRAV-id

What It Means

1 : pregnant

2 : distended with or full of eggs

gravid in Context

“The film is about the world of mixed martial arts, a subject gravid with possibilities.” (Allen Barra, The New York Sun, April 29, 2008)

Did You Know?

"Gravid" comes from Latin "gravis," meaning “heavy.” It can refer to a female who is literally pregnant, and it also has the figurative meanings of "pregnant”: “full or teeming” and “meaningful.” Thus, a writer may be gravid with ideas as she sits down to write; a cloud may be gravid with rain; or a speaker may make a gravid pause before announcing his remarkable findings.