greave

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: grēv, IPA^(key): /ɡɹiːv/
• Homophone: grieve
• Rhymes: -iːv

Etymology 1

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English greve, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old English grǣfe, grǣfa (“bush, bramble, grove, thicket, copse, brush-wood (for burning), fuel”). Cognate with Scots greve, greave (“grove”). Compare also (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Germanic *grainiz (“twig”), of unknown origin, whence Old Norse grein (“branch, bough”). Closely related to Old English grāf, grāfa (“grove”). See grove.

Noun

greave (plural greaves)

1. (obsolete) A bush; a tree; a grove.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Spenser to this entry?)

2. (obsolete) A bough; a branch.

Etymology 2

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English greve, greyve, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old English grǣfa, grēfa (“pit, cave, hole, grave, trench”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Germanic *grōbō (“pit, ditch”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ- (“to dig, scratch, scrape”). Cognate with North Frisian groop (“pit, sewer, gutter”), Dutch groef (“pit, hole, gutter”), German Grube (“pit, hole”), Icelandic gröf (“pit, grave”).

Noun

greave (plural greaves)

1. (obsolete) A ditch or trench.

Etymology 3

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English greve, grayve, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French greve (“shin”), of uncertain origin; possibly from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Egyptian Arabic جورب (“stocking, leg cover”).

Alternative forms

• greeve

Noun

greave (plural greaves)

1. A piece of armour that protects the leg, especially the shin.

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:greave.

Translations

piece of armour that protects the leg, especially the shin

• Armenian: զանգապան (hy) (zangapan)
• French: grève (fr) f
• German: Schienbeinschutz m, Schienbeinschützer m, Schienbeinschoner (de) m, Beinschiene f
• Latin: ocrea f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Old Irish: bróc f
• Portuguese: greva f
• Russian: поножи (ru) pl (ponoži)
• Spanish: greba (es) f

Etymology 4

From greaves (“residue left after animal fat has been rendered”).

Verb

1. (nautical, transitive) To clean (a ship's bottom); to grave.

See also

• greaves (“residue left after animal fat has been rendered”)

References

• Klein, A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language

Anagrams

• regave