noun
grave
An accent mark that slopes downward from left to right.
The vowel carries a grave above it.
Etymology
Latin gravis means heavy or low. The accent name belongs to an old contrast with acute, linked to the lower pitch represented by the grave accent in Greek.
More examples
- She distinguished the grave from the acute accent.
- Several graves appeared in the printed text.
- The font placed the grave too close to the letter.
Forms
grave · graves
Similar words
- acute
- An accent slanting in the opposite direction.
- circumflex
- An accent commonly shaped like a small pointed roof.