What is "grave accent"

Grave \Grave\, a. [Compar. Graver (gr[=a]v"[~e]r); superl. Gravest.] [F., fr. L. gravis heavy; cf. It. & Sp. grave heavy, grave. See Grief.]

1. Of great weight; heavy; ponderous. [Obs.]

   His shield grave and great.
   --Chapman.

2. Of importance; momentous; weighty; influential; sedate; serious; -- said of character, relations, etc.; as, grave deportment, character, influence, etc.

   Most potent, grave, and reverend seigniors.
   --Shak.

   A grave and prudent law, full of moral equity.
   --Milton.

3. Not light or gay; solemn; sober; plain; as, a grave color; a grave face.

4. (Mus.)

   1. Not acute or sharp; low; deep; -- said of sound; as, a grave note or key.

      The thicker the cord or string, the more grave is the note or tone.
      --Moore (Encyc. of Music).

   2. Slow and solemn in movement.

      Grave accent. (Pron.) See the Note under Accent, n., 2.

      Syn: Solemn; sober; serious; sage; staid; demure; thoughtful; sedate; weighty; momentous; important.

      Usage: Grave, Sober, Serious, Solemn. Sober supposes the absence of all exhilaration of spirits, and is opposed to gay or flighty; as, sober thought. Serious implies considerateness or reflection, and is opposed to jocose or sportive; as, serious and important concerns. Grave denotes a state of mind, appearance, etc., which results from the pressure of weighty interests, and is opposed to hilarity of feeling or vivacity of manner; as, a qrave remark; qrave attire. Solemn is applied to a case in which gravity is carried to its highest point; as, a solemn admonition; a solemn promise.

n. (context countable English) A diacritic mark ( ˋ ) used in many languages to distinguish the pronunciations of vowels.

n. a mark (`) placed above a vowel to indicate pronunciation [syn: grave]

The grave accent (''' ` ''') ( or ) is a diacritical mark in many written languages, including Breton, Catalan, Corsican, Dutch, Emilian-Romagnol, French, Frisian, Greek (until 1982; see polytonic orthography), Haitian Creole, Italian, Mohawk, Norwegian, Occitan, Portuguese, Ligurian, Scottish Gaelic, Vietnamese, Welsh, Romansh, and Yoruba.