Etymology The adjective is first attested in 1471 in Middle English, the verb in 1530; from Latin aggravātus, perfect passive participle of aggravō (“to add to the weight of, make worse, oppress, annoy”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from ad- (“to”) + gravō (“to make heavy”), from gravis (“heavy”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix). See grave and compare aggrieve and aggrege. Participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English. By surface analysis, ag- + grave (“heavy”) + -ate (“verb suffix”).
1
To make (an offence) worse or more severe; to increase in offensiveness or heinousness.
Once more, the more to aggrauate the note, With a foule Traitors name ſtuffe I thy throte, And wiſh (ſo pleaſe my Soueraigne) ere I moue, What my tong ſpeaks, my right drawn ſword may proue1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 23, column 2:
The defense made by the prisoner's counsel did rather aggravate than extenuate his crime.1709, Joseph Addison, The Tatler:
2
Broadly To make (any bad thing) worse.
to aggravate my woes.1726, Homer, “Book XVI”, in [William Broome], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume IV, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC:
[…] to aggravate the horrors of the scene1837, William H. Prescott, History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic:
3
Archaic To give extra weight or intensity to; to exaggerate, to magnify.
He aggravated the story.
4
Obsolete To pile or heap (something heavy or onerous) on or upon someone.
In order to lighten the crown still further, they aggravated responsibility on ministers of state.1790, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, Oxford, published 2009, page 28:
If both were to aggravate her parents, as my brother and sister do mine.1748, [Samuel Richardson], Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd sold by John Osborn, […], →OCLC:
Ben Bella was aggravated by having to express himself in French because the Egyptians were unable to understand his Arabic.1977, Alistair Horne, A Savage War of Peace, New York: Review Books, published 2006, page 85:
Etymology The adjective is first attested in 1471 in Middle English, the verb in 1530; from Latin aggravātus, perfect passive participle of aggravō (“to add to the weight of, make worse, oppress, annoy”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from ad- (“to”) + gravō (“to make heavy”), from gravis (“heavy”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix). See grave and compare aggrieve and aggrege. Participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English. By surface analysis, ag- + grave (“heavy”) + -ate (“verb suffix”).