As a noun, a grave is a place in the ground where a dead person is buried. As an adjective, grave means very serious and important, often in a worrying way.
The noun “grave” comes from Old English “græf,” meaning ditch or trench. The adjective “grave” comes from a different source: Old French “grave,” from Latin “gravis,” meaning heavy or serious.
Two completely different word families accidentally met in English as ‘grave’: one about digging, one about seriousness. That’s why ‘grave danger’ has nothing to do with burial, even though it sounds like it might.
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