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Gravamen - Definition and Overview |
| Related Words: Body, Bulk, Center, Climax, Core, Cornerstone, Crisis, Crux, Elixir, Essence, Essential, Flower, Focus, Fundamental, Heart, Hypostasis |
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Gravamen (from Lat. gravare, to weigh down; gravis, heavy), a complaint or grievance, the ground of a legal action, and particularly the more serious part of a charge against an accused person.
In English the term is used chiefly in ecclesiastical cases, being the technical designation of a memorial presented from the Lower to the Upper House of Convocation, setting forth grievances to be redressed, or calling attention to breaches in church discipline.
This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.
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