pregravate

English

Etymology

From Latin praegravatus, past participle of praegravare (“to be heavy upon”), from praegravis (“very heavy”).

Verb

pregravate (third-person singular simple present pregravates, present participle pregravating, simple past and past participle pregravated)

1. (obsolete, nonce word) To bear down; to depress.
   • 1651 (indicated as 1652), Joseph Hall, “The Invisible World Discovered to Spiritual Eyes, and Reduced to Useful Meditation. […]”, in Josiah Pratt, editor, The Works of the Right Reverend Father in God, Joseph Hall, D.D. […], volume VI (Devotional Works), London: […] C[harles] Whittingham, […]; for Williams and Smith, […], published 1808, →OCLC:

     The clog that the body brings with it cannot but pregravate and trouble the soul in all her performances

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “pregravate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)