grove

grove · noun, verb¹

1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*graibaz
2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*graib
3. Old English · inherited fromgrāf
4. Middle English · inherited fromgrove
5. English todaygrove

From Middle English grove, grave, from Old English grāf, grāfa (“grove; copse”), from Proto-West Germanic *graib, *graibō (“branch, group of branches, thicket”), from Proto-Germanic *graibaz, *graibô (“branch, fork”). Related to Old English grǣf, grǣfe (“brushwood; thicket; copse”), Old English grǣfa (“thicket”), dialectal Norwegian greive (“ram with splayed horns”), dialectal Norwegian greivlar (“ramifications of an antler”), dialectal Norwegian grivla (“to branch, branch out”), Old Norse grein (“twig, branch, limb”). More at greave.

Grove · proper noun²

* As an English surname, from the noun grove. * As a French surname, Americanized from Le Groux, Le Greux, reduced from Gréoul, of Germanic origin, from *grēduz (“hunger”) + *wulfaz (“wolf”). * As a north German surname, from the Low German noun Graf (“ditch, grave”) (see grave). Also a Dutch and Low German form of Grub. * As a German surname, variant of Graf.

Words from the same roots