grece

See also: Grece, Grèce, and Grêce

English

Etymology

From Middle English grece (“staircase”), from Old French grez, greis et al., plural of gre (“gree”) taken as a collective singular.

Noun

grece (plural greces)

1. (obsolete) A flight of stairs.
2. (obsolete, in the plural) Steps, stairs.
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “xviij”, in Le Morte Darthur, book XVII:
     :

     Sir said they a merueyllous aduentur / that may not be broughte vnto none ende / but by hym that passeth of bounte and of knyhthode al them of the round table / I wold sayd Galahad that ye wold lede me ther to / Gladly sayd they / and soo ledde hym tyl a caue / and he went doune vpon gresys / and cam nyghe the tombe

Anagrams

• cerge

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Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old French grez, plural of gré (which is the source of gre).

Alternative forms

• grees, grese, greez, greese, greece

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡreːs/

Noun

grece (plural greces)

1. A step; a part of a staircase or set of stairs.
2. A staircase; a set of stairs composing an upwards climb.

Derived terms

• gresynge

Descendants

• English: grece (obsolete)
• Scots: grece (obsolete)

References

• “grẹ̄s (n.)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-09-15.

Etymology 2

From Anglo-Norman grece, from Vulgar Latin *crassia.

Alternative forms

• grees, grese, greez, gres, gresse

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡrɛːs(ə)/

Noun

grece (plural greces)

1. Fat derived from animals (including humans)
2. Processed and melted animal fat used in cooking or anointing; grease.
3. Grease used to start or help fires.
4. A greasy unguent or salve; grease as a medicament.

Derived terms

• grecen
• gresynge

Descendants

• English: grease
• Scots: gree (a back-formation)

References

• “grēs(e (n.)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-09-15.

Etymology 3

From Old English græs.

Noun

grece

1. Alternative form of gras

Etymology 4

From grece (noun).

Verb

grece

1. Alternative form of grecen

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Old French

Alternative forms

• graise, graisse, grese, gresse

Noun

grece oblique singular, f (oblique plural greces, nominative singular grece, nominative plural greces)

1. fat (fatty material)
2. grease

Descendants

• → Middle English: grece
  • English: grease