Middle English word graven comes from Proto-Indo-European *gherbh-, Proto-Indo-European *gʰrābʰ-, and later Proto-Germanic *grabaną (To dig. To engrave, scratch.)
| Dictionary entry | Language | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| *gherbh- | Proto-Indo-European (ine-pro) | |
| *gʰrābʰ- | Proto-Indo-European (ine-pro) | to dig, scratch, scrape |
| *gʰróbʰ- | Proto-Indo-European (ine-pro) | |
| *grabaną | Proto-Germanic (gem-pro) | To dig. To engrave, scratch. |
| grafan | Old English (ang) | To dig, dig up. To grave; engrave, chisel, carve. |
| graven | Middle English (enm) |