groove

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a long narrow furrow cut either by a natural process (such as erosion) or by a tool (as e.g. a groove in a phonograph record)
  2. noun a settled and monotonous routine that is hard to escape
  3. noun (anatomy) any furrow or channel on a bodily structure or part

Etymology

From Middle English grov, grove, groof, grofe (“cave; pit; mining shaft”), probably from Old Norse gróf (“pit”) or from Middle Dutch groeve (“furrow, ditch”), both from Proto-West Germanic *grōbu, from Proto-Germanic *grōbō (“groove, furrow”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrebʰ- (“to dig, scrape, bury”). Cognate with Cimbrian gruuba (“gorge, ravine”), Dutch groef, groeve (“groove; pit, grave”), German Grube (“ditch, pit”), Luxembourgish Grouf (“pit, mine”), Mòcheno gruab (“mine”), Icelandic gróf (“pit, hollow”), Gothic 𐌲𐍂𐍉𐌱𐌰 (grōba, “foxhole”), Serbo-Croatian grèbati (“scratch, dig”). Related to Old English grafan (“to dig”). More at grave.

In classic literature

Synonyms

channel

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