Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

greave

/ɡɹiːv/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.20 in modern English

Syllables: greave
IPA: /ɡɹiːv/

10

Scrabble Score

6

Letters

1

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A bush; a tree; a grove.

Obsolete

noun

A bough; a branch.

Obsolete

noun

A ditch or trench.

Obsolete

noun

A piece of armour that protects the leg, especially the shin, and occasionally the tops of the feet.

verb

To clean (a ship's bottom); to grave.

Transitive verb

Example Sentences

"she fled into that covert greave"
"And through the stained windows bright, / From o'er the red-tiled eaves, / The sunlight blazed with colored light / On golden helms and greaves."
"Then he cast off his breast-plate, thigh pieces, and greaves, while Alleyne followed his example."

Etymology

From Middle English greve, from Old English grǣfe, grǣfa (“bush, bramble, grove, thicket, copse, brush-wood (for burning), fuel”). Cognate with Scots greve, greave (“grove”). Compare also Proto-Germanic *grainiz (“twig”), of unknown origin, whence Old Norse grein (“branch, bough”). Closely related to Old English grāf, grāfa (“grove”). See grove.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: greve, grǣfe, grǣfa, *grēbō, *gʰrebʰ-, -

Usage

Inflected Forms

greaves (plural) greeve (alternative) greaves (present, singular) greaving (participle, present) greaved (participle, past) greaved (past)

Derived Forms

greaved

Frequently Paired Words

greaves

Synonyms

cnemid jambeau

Homonyms

grieve

Rhymes With

believe leave we've receive steve achieve eve sleeve relieve naive perceive retrieve

Questions

How do you pronounce greave?: The recorded pronunciation is /ɡɹiːv/.
What does greave mean?: A bush; a tree; a grove.
Where does greave come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce greave

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “greave”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ɡɹiːv/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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