Containing grains of sand or dirt, or showing real courage and determination despite difficulties.
From 'grit' (particles of sand) plus '-y' suffix. 'Grit' comes from Old English 'grytt,' related to grinding. The metaphorical meaning (courage) developed because people who kept grinding forward despite adversity showed grit.
The metaphor of 'grit' is fascinating—it originally meant actual sand, then meant the grinding noise sand makes, then came to mean persistent effort that 'grinds' forward. Modern psychologists use 'grit' to mean perseverance, bringing the old word back into science!
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