Standard Lemma guide

gravitation

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /ˌɡɹævɪˈteɪ̯ʃən/
  • General-American, Received-Pronunciation: [ˌɡɹwævɪˈtheɪ̯ʃən] ~ [ˌɡɹwævɪˈtheɪ̯ʃn̩]
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australian: /ˌɡɹævɪˈtæ̝ɪ̯ʃən/
  • Australian: [ˌɡɹwævɪˈthæ̝ɪ̯ʃən] ~ [ˌɡɹwævɪˈthæ̝ɪ̯ʃn̩]
  • rhymes with -eɪʃən
  • CMU ARPABET: G R AE2 V IH0 T EY1 SH AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The fundamental force of attraction which exists between all matter in the universe that tends to draw bodies towards each other, due to matter causing the curvature of spacetime. It is the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, and possesses a gauge boson known as the graviton.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Topics: natural-sciences, physical-sciences, physics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: gravity

Antonyms: levitation

2

noun

Meaning 2

a figurative movement toward some attraction

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the gravitation of the middle class to the suburbs

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: drift, trend, movement

3

noun

Meaning 3

movement downward resulting from gravitational attraction

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • irrigation by gravitation rather than by pumps

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: levitation

Broader terms: change of location, travel

Narrower terms: drop, fall

4

noun

Meaning 4

(physics) the force of attraction between all masses in the universe; especially the attraction of the earth's mass for bodies near its surface--Albert Einstein

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the more remote the body the less the gravity
  • the gravitation between two bodies is proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them
  • gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: gravity, gravitational attraction, gravitational force

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: attraction, attractive force

Narrower terms: solar gravity

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Latin gravis Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Italic *-tos Latin -tus Proto-Indo-European *-h2 Proto-Indo-European *-éh2 Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh2yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h2tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin -tō Latin -itō Latin gravitō Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō New Latin gravitātiōbor. English gravitation Borrowed from New Latin gravitātiō. By surface analysis, gravitate + -ion.

Across languages

Translations

133 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: swaartekrag — fundamental force of attraction
  • Albanian: rëndesë — fundamental force of attraction
  • Southern Altai: тартар (tartar) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Southern Altai: тартыш (tartïš) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Amharic: ስበት (səbät) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Arabic: جَاذِبِيَّة (jāḏibiyya) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Azerbaijani: cazibə — fundamental force of attraction
  • Azerbaijani: çəkim — fundamental force of attraction
  • Bashkir: тартым (tartım) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Bashkir: тартылыу (tartılıw) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Bengali: অভিকর্ষ (obhikorśo) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Bengali: মহাকর্ষ (mohakorśo) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Bengali: মাধ্যাকর্ষণ (maddhakorśon) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Bulgarian: гравитация (gravitacija) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Catalan: gravitació — fundamental force of attraction
  • Catalan: gravetat — fundamental force of attraction
  • Chinese Mandarin: 引力 (yǐnlì) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Chinese Mandarin: 重力 (zhònglì) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Chuvash: туртӑм (turt̬ăm) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Crimean Tatar: cazibe — fundamental force of attraction
  • Crimean Tatar: incizap — fundamental force of attraction
  • Czech: gravitace — fundamental force of attraction
  • Czech: přitažlivost — fundamental force of attraction
  • Dutch: gravitatie — fundamental force of attraction
  • Dutch: zwaartekracht — fundamental force of attraction
  • Esperanto: gravitada ondo — fundamental force of attraction
  • Esperanto: gravito — fundamental force of attraction
  • Estonian: gravitatsioon — fundamental force of attraction
  • Estonian: raskusjõud — fundamental force of attraction
  • Finnish: painovoima — fundamental force of attraction
  • Finnish: gravitaatio — fundamental force of attraction
  • French: gravitation — fundamental force of attraction
  • West-Frisian: gravitaasjekrêft — fundamental force of attraction
  • West-Frisian: swiertekrêft — fundamental force of attraction
  • Georgian: გრავიტაცია (graviṭacia) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Georgian: მიზიდულობა (miziduloba) — fundamental force of attraction
  • German: Gravitation — fundamental force of attraction
  • German: Schwerkraft — fundamental force of attraction
  • Greek: βαρύτητα (varýtita) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Hebrew: משיכה (meshikhá) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Hindi: गुरुत्व (gurutva) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Hindi: गुरुत्वाकर्षण (gurutvākarṣaṇ) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Hungarian: gravitáció — fundamental force of attraction
  • Hungarian: tömegvonzás — fundamental force of attraction
  • Icelandic: aðdráttarafl — fundamental force of attraction
  • Ido: gravitado — fundamental force of attraction
  • Indonesian: gravitasi — fundamental force of attraction
  • Indonesian: gaya berat — fundamental force of attraction
  • Indonesian: gaya tarik bumi — fundamental force of attraction
  • Interlingua: gravitation — fundamental force of attraction
  • Inuktitut: ᐅᖁᒪᐃᓐᓂᖃᖅᑎᑦᑎᔪᖅ (oqomainniqaqtittiyoq) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Irish: imtharraingt — fundamental force of attraction
  • Italian: gravitazione — fundamental force of attraction
  • Italian: gravità — fundamental force of attraction
  • Italian: interazione gravitazionale — fundamental force of attraction
  • Japanese: 引力 (inryoku) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Japanese: 重力 (jūryoku) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Kannada: ಗುರುತ್ವ (gurutva) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Karachay-Balkar: тартыу (tartıu) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Karakalpak: tartıw — fundamental force of attraction
  • Kazakh: тартылыс (tartylys) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Kazakh: тарту (tartu) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Khakas: тартылғаны (tartılğanı) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Korean: 인력 (illyeok) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Korean: 중력 (jungnyeok) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Kumyk: тартыв (tartıw) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Kumyk: чегим (çegim) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Northern Kurdish: rakêş — fundamental force of attraction
  • Kyrgyz: тартылуу (tartıluu) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Latin: gravitās — fundamental force of attraction
  • Latvian: gravitācija — fundamental force of attraction
  • Lithuanian: gravitacija — fundamental force of attraction
  • Lithuanian: trauka — fundamental force of attraction
  • Luxembourgish: Gravitatioun — fundamental force of attraction
  • Macedonian: гравитација (gravitacija) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Macedonian: тежа (teža) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Malay: graviti — fundamental force of attraction
  • Malay: daya berat — fundamental force of attraction
  • Malayalam: ഗുരുത്വാകർഷണം (gurutvākaṟṣaṇaṁ) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Māori: tōāpapa — fundamental force of attraction
  • Norwegian Bokmål: gravitasjon — fundamental force of attraction
  • Norwegian Bokmål: tyngdekraft — fundamental force of attraction
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: gravitasjon — fundamental force of attraction
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: tyngdekraft — fundamental force of attraction
  • Persian: گرانش (gerâneš) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Persian: جاذبه (jâzebe) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Polish: grawitacja — fundamental force of attraction
  • Polish: ciążenie — fundamental force of attraction
  • Polish: ciążenie powszechne — fundamental force of attraction
  • Polish: siła ciążenia — fundamental force of attraction
  • Portuguese: gravitação — fundamental force of attraction
  • Romanian: gravitație — fundamental force of attraction
  • Russian: гравита́ция (gravitácija) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Russian: притяже́ние (pritjažénije) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Russian: тяготе́ние (tjagoténije) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Salar: datqusi — fundamental force of attraction
  • Serbo-Croatian: гравита́ција — fundamental force of attraction
  • Serbo-Croatian: те́жа — fundamental force of attraction
  • Serbo-Croatian: gravitácija — fundamental force of attraction
  • Serbo-Croatian: téža — fundamental force of attraction
  • Slovene: gravitácija — fundamental force of attraction
  • Spanish: gravitación — fundamental force of attraction
  • Spanish: gravedad — fundamental force of attraction
  • Swedish: gravitation — fundamental force of attraction
  • Swedish: tyngd — fundamental force of attraction
  • Swedish: tyngdkraft — fundamental force of attraction
  • Tagalog: grabedad — fundamental force of attraction
  • Tagalog: hilabigat — fundamental force of attraction
  • Tagalog: karagsinan — fundamental force of attraction
  • Tatar: тартым (tartım) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Tatar: тартылу (tartılu) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Thai: ความโน้มถ่วง (kwaam-nóom-tùuang) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Thai: แรงดึงดูด (rɛɛng-dʉng-dùut) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Turkish: kütleçekim — fundamental force of attraction
  • Turkish: kütle çekimi — fundamental force of attraction
  • Turkish: çekim — fundamental force of attraction
  • Ottoman Turkish: آغرلغڭ آغمەسی (ağırlığın ağması) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Ottoman Turkish: جاذبه (câzibe) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Ottoman Turkish: انجذاب (incizâb) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Ottoman Turkish: ثقلت (sıqlet) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Turkmen: dartylma — fundamental force of attraction
  • Turkmen: dartyş — fundamental force of attraction
  • Turkmen: ýerdartyş — fundamental force of attraction
  • Tuvan: тыртары (tırtarı) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Tuvan: тыртыжыышкын (tırtıjıışkın) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Tuvan: тыртыжылга (tırtıjılga) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Ukrainian: гравіта́ція (hravitácija) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Uyghur: تارتىش (tartish) — fundamental force of attraction
  • Uzbek: joziba — fundamental force of attraction
  • Vietnamese: lực hấp dẫn — fundamental force of attraction
  • Vietnamese: tương tác hấp dẫn — fundamental force of attraction
  • Welsh: disgyrchedd — fundamental force of attraction
  • Welsh: disgyrchiant — fundamental force of attraction