- gravity
- 1509, "weight, dignity, seriousness," from L. gravitatem (nom. gravitas) "weight, heaviness, pressure," from gravis "heavy" (see grave (adj.)). The scientific sense of "force that gives weight to objects" first recorded 1641. Gravitate is first recorded 1692.
- owl
- O.E. ule, from P.Gmc. *uwwalon (cf. Du. uil, O.H.G. uwila, Ger. Eule, O.N. ugla), a dim. of root *uwwa, which is imitative of an owl's hoot (cf. L. ulula "owl;" cf. also ululation). The bird was employed proverbially and figuratively in ref. to nocturnal habits, ugliness, and appearance of gravity and wisdom (often ironic).
- aggravation
- late 15c., from O.Fr. aggravation, from L.L. aggravationem (nom. aggravatio), noun of action from L. aggravatus, pp. of aggravare "make heavier," from ad "to" + gravare "weigh down," from gravis "heavy" (see grave (adj.)). Oldest sense is "increasing in gravity or seriousness;" that of "irritation" is from 1610s.
- point blank
- 1571, from point (v.) + blank, the white center of a target. The notion is of standing close enough to aim (point) at the blank without allowance for curve, windage, or gravity.
- center
- late 14c., from O.Fr. centre, from L. centrum "center," orig. fixed point of the two points of a compass, from Gk. kentron "sharp point, goad," from kentein "stitch," from PIE base *kent- "to prick" (cf. Breton kentr "a spur," O.H.G. hantag "sharp, pointed"). The verb is from 1620s. Spelling with -re popularized in Britain by Johnson's dictionary, though -er is older. Center of gravity is recorded from 1650s.
- apothecary
- mid-14c., "shopkeeper," from O.Fr. apotecaire (13c.), from L.L. apothecarius "storekeeper," from L. apotheca "storehouse," from Gk. apotheke "storehouse," lit. "a place where things are put away," from apo- "away" (see apo-) + tithenai "to put," from PIE base *dhe- "to put, to do" (see factitious). Cognate compounds produced Skt. apadha- "concealment," O.Pers. apadana- "palace." Drugs and herbs being among the chief items of non-perishable goods, the meaning narrowed 17c. to "druggist" (Apothecaries' Company of London separated from the Grocers' in 1617). Same root produced Fr. boutique and Sp. bodega. Apothecaries formerly were notorious for "the assumed gravity and affectation of knowledge generally put on by the gentlemen of this profession, who are commonly as superficial in their learning as they are pedantic in their language" [Francis Grose, "A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," 1796]. Hence, Apothecary's Latin, barbarously mangled, also known as Dog Latin.