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brevity [brevity 词源字典]: brevity: see brief
[brevity etymology, brevity origin, 英语词源]
cavity: cavity: see cave
gravity: gravity: [16] Gravity comes from Latin gravitās, a derivative of the adjective gravis ‘heavy, important’. This in turn goes back to a prehistoric Indo-European *gru-, which also produced Greek bárus ‘heavy’ (source of English baritone [19] and barium [19]), Sanskrit gurús ‘heavy, dignified’ (whence English guru [17]), Latin brūtus ‘heavy’, hence ‘cumbersome, stupid’ (from which English gets brute), Gothic kaurus ‘heavy’, and Latvian grūts ‘heavy, pregnant’.

English descendants of gravis, apart from gravity, include grave ‘serious’, gravid ‘pregnant’ [16], gravitate [17], grief, and grudge.
=> baritone, barium, brute, grave, grief, grudge, guru
inevitable: inevitable: [15] Latin ēvītāre meant ‘avoid’. It was a compound verb formed from the prefix ex- ‘away, from’ and vītāre ‘shun’, and actually produced an English verb evite ‘avoid’, a scholarly 16th-century introduction which survived as an archaism into the 19th century. Its derived adjective was ēvītābilis ‘avoidable’, which with the negative prefix became inēvītābilis.
invite: invite: [16] Invite comes from Latin invitāre, probably by way of French inviter, but there our certain knowledge of its ancestry ends; for the Latin verb is something of a mystery word. No one is too sure where the element -vitāre comes from. One suggestion is that it is related to Greek hiesthai ‘be desirous of’.
=> vie
vital: vital: [14] Vital comes via Old French vital from Latin vītālis. This was a derivative of vīta ‘life’. And vīta went back ultimately to Latin vīvus ‘living’, source of English vivacious, vivid, etc. Viable [19] is also descended from vīta, and etymologically means ‘capable of life’.
=> viable, vitamin, vivid
vitamin: vitamin: [20] Vitamins were originally vitamines: the Polish-born biochemist Casimir Funk who introduced them to the world in 1920 believed that they were amino acids and so formed the name from Latin vita ‘life’ and amine. It was soon discovered that Funk’s belief was mistaken, and alternative names were suggested, but in 1920 it was successfully proposed (by J.C. Drummond) that the -e be dropped to avoid confusion, and the form vitamin was born.
=> amine, vital
vitreous: vitreous: [17] Latin vitrum meant ‘glass’ (it may be the same word as vitrum ‘woad, plant producing blue dye’, the link being the bluishgreen colour of glass, and it might even be distantly related to English woad itself). From it was derived vitreus ‘clear, transparent’, which gave English vitreous. The sulphates of various metals have a glassy appearance, and so in medieval Latin the term vitriolum (a derivative of vitrum) was applied to them – whence English vitriol [14].
=> vitriol
acclivity (n.): 1610s, from Latin acclivitatem (nominative acclivitas) "an ascending direction, an upward steepness," from acclivis "mounting upwards, ascending," from ad- "up" (see ad-) + clivus "hill, a slope," from PIE *klei-wo-, suffixed form of *klei- "to lean" (see lean (v.)).
activities (n.): in schoolwork sense, 1923, American English, from activity.
activity (n.): c. 1400, "active or secular life," from Old French activité, from Medieval Latin activitatem (nominative activitas), a word in Scholastic philosophy, from Latin activus (see active). Meaning "state of being active, briskness, liveliness" recorded from 1520s; that of "capacity for acting on matter" is from 1540s.
affidavit (n.): 1590s, from Medieval Latin affidavit, literally "he has stated on oath," third person singular perfective of affidare "to trust," from Latin ad- "to" (see ad-) + fidare "to trust," from fidus "faithful," from the same root as fides "faith" (see faith). So called from being the first word of sworn statements.
aqua vitae (n.): early 15c., Latin, literally "water of life," an alchemical term for unrefined alcohol. Applied to brandy, whiskey, etc. from 1540s. Compare whiskey, also French eau-de-vie "spirits, brandy," literally "water of life."
arbor vitae (n.): type of evergreen shrub, 1660s, name given by French physician and botanist Charles de Lécluse (1525-1609), Latin, literally "tree of life." Also used in late 18c. rogue's slang as a cant word for "penis."
brevity (n.): c. 1500, from Latin brevitatem (nominative brevitas) "shortness" in space or time, from brevis "short" (see brief (adj.)).
captivity (n.): late 14c., Old French *captivite or directly from Latin captivitatem (nominative captivitas), from captivus (see captive (n.)). An Old English cognate word for it was gehæftnes (see haft).
cavitate (v.): 1892 (implied in cavitated), back-formation from cavitation. Related: Cavitating.
cavitation (n.): "formation of bubbles in fluid," 1895, from cavity + -ation. Earlier as a medical term (1868).
cavity (n.): 1540s, from Middle French cavité (13c.), from Late Latin cavitatem (nominative cavitas) "hollowness," from Latin cavus "hollow" (see cave (n.)).
concavity (n.): c. 1400, from Old French concavité "hollow, concavity" (14c.) or directly from Latin concavitatem (nominative concavitas), from Latin concavus "hollow" (see concave).
conjunctivitis (n.): 1835, inflammation of the conjunctiva; from conjunctiva + -itis "inflammation."
connectivity (n.): 1872, from connective + -ity.
creativity (n.): 1859, from creative + -ity. An earlier word was creativeness (1800).
curriculum vitae (n.): "brief account of one's life and work," 1902, from Latin curriculum vitae, literally "course of one's life" (see curriculum). Abbreviated c.v..
davit (n.): also david, "crane-like structure used to lower things off a ship, etc.," late 15c., apparently a use of the masc. proper name David on the pattern of applying common Christian names to useful devices (compare jack, jenny, jimmy).
declivity (n.): 1610s, from French déclivité, from Latin declivitatem (nominative declivitas) "a slope, declivity," from declivis "a sloping downward," from de- "down" (see de-) + clivus "a slope," from PIE *klei-wo-, suffixed form of *klei "to lean" (see lean (v.)).
depravity (n.): 1640s; see deprave + -ity. Earlier in same sense was pravity.
disinvite (v.): 1570s; see dis- + invite. Related: Disinvited; disinviting.
dolce vita (n.): "life of pleasure," 1960, Italian, from title of Fellini's film.
evitable (adj.): c. 1500, from Latin evitabilis "avoidable," from evitare "to shun, avoid" (see inevitable). In modern use, likely a back-formation from inevitable.
exclusivity (n.): 1926, from exclusive + -ity. Exclusiveness is from 1730; exclusivism is from 1834.
festivity (n.): "festive celebration, feast," late 14c., from Old French festiveté "celebration, festiveness, festival," from Latin festivitatem (nominative festivitas) "good fellowship, generosity," from festivus "festive," from festum "festival or holiday," neuter of festus "of a feast" (see feast (n.)). Related: Festivities.
gingivitis (n.): 1874, from Latin gingivae "the gums" (of unknown origin) + -itis "inflammation."
gravitas (n.): 1924, usually in italics, from Latin gravitas "weight, heaviness;" figuratively, of persons, "dignity, presence, influence" (see gravity). A word wanted when gravity acquired a primarily scientific meaning.
gravitate (v.): 1640s, "exert weight; move downward" (obsolete), from Modern Latin gravitare (16c. in scientific writing), from Latin gravitas "heaviness, weight," from gravis "heavy" (see grave (adj.)). Meaning "be affected by gravity" is from 1690s. Figurative sense "be strongly attracted to, have a natural tendency toward" is from 1670s. Related: Gravitated; gravitating. The classical Latin verb was gravare "to make heavy, burden, oppress, aggravate."
gravitation (n.): 1640s in physics, "force that gives weight to objects," also figurative, "act of tending toward a center of attraction," from Modern Latin gravitare (see gravitate). Compare gravity.
gravitational (adj.): 1816, from gravitation + -al (1). Related: Gravitationally.
gravity (n.): c. 1500, "weight, dignity, seriousness, solemnity of deportment or character, importance," from Old French gravité "seriousness, thoughtfulness" (13c.) and directly from Latin gravitatem (nominative gravitas) "weight, heaviness, pressure," from gravis "heavy" (see grave (adj.)). The scientific sense of "downward acceleration of terrestrial bodies due to gravitation of the Earth" first recorded 1620s.
The words gravity and gravitation have been more or less confounded; but the most careful writers use gravitation for the attracting force, and gravity for the terrestrial phenomenon of weight or downward acceleration which has for its two components the gravitation and the centrifugal force. [Century Dictionary, 1902]
hyperactivity (n.): 1852, from hyper- + activity.
impassivity (n.): 1794, from impassive + -ity.
impulsivity (n.): 1891; see impulsive + -ity.
in vitro: Latin; "in a test tube, culture dish, etc.;" literally "in glass" (see vitreous).
inactivity (n.): 1640s, from in- (1) "not, opposite of" + activity. Phrase masterly inactivity attested by 1791.
inevitability (n.): 1640s, from inevitable + -ity.
inevitable (adj.): mid-15c., from Latin inevitabilis "unavoidable," from in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + evitabilis "avoidable," from evitare "to avoid," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + vitare "shun," originally "go out of the way."
inevitably (adv.): mid-15c., from inevitable + -ly (2).
invita Minerva: Latin, literally "Minerva (goddess of wisdom) unwilling;" i.e. "without inspiration, not being in the mood for it."
invitation (n.): mid-15c., from Latin invitationem (nominative invitatio) "an invitation, incitement, challenge," noun of action from past participle stem of invitare "invite, treat, entertain," originally "be pleasant toward," from in- "toward" (see in- (2)). Second element is obscure; Watkins suggests a suffixed form of root *weie- "to go after something, pursue with vigor," and a connection to English gain (see venison). Meaning "the spoken or written form in which a person is invited" is from 1610s.
invite (v.): 1530s, a back-formation from invitation, or else from Middle French inviter, from Latin invitare "to invite," also "to summon, challenge." As a noun variant of invitation it is attested from 1650s. Related: Invited; inviting.
invite (n.): 1650s, from invite (v.).