gravezza

Italian

Etymology

From grave (“heavy”) +‎ -ezza.

Noun

gravezza f (plural gravezze)

1. (literary) heaviness, weight, weightiness

   Synonym: pesantezza

2. (literary, figurative) discomfort, anguish, distress

   Synonyms: molestia, disagio, travaglio

   • 1300s–1310s, Dante Alighieri, “Canto I”, in Inferno [Hell]‎^[1], lines 52–54; republished as Giorgio Petrocchi, editor, La Commedia secondo l'antica vulgata [The Commedia according to the ancient vulgate]‎^[2], 2^nd revised edition, Florence: publ. Le Lettere, 1994:

     […] questa mi porse tanto di gravezza ¶ con la paura ch’uscia di sua vista, ¶ ch’io perdei la speranza de l’altezza.

     She brought upon me so much heaviness, with the affright that from her aspect came, that I the hope relinquished of the height.

Further reading

• gravézza in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana