graven

[ grey-vuhn ]

verb

1. a past participle of grave ³.

adjective

1. deeply impressed; firmly fixed.
2. carved; sculptured:

   a graven idol.

graven

/ ˈɡreɪvən /

verb

1. a past participle of grave 3

adjective

1. strongly fixed

Other Words From

• non·graven adjective
• un·graven adjective
• well-graven adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of graven¹

1200–50; Middle English. See grave ³, -en ³

Example Sentences

Those included condemnation of just the sort of graven imagery his son would later master for the Church of Rome and its royal cohorts in Habsburg Spain.

From Los Angeles Times

I remember something, too, of the green grave-mounds; and I have not forgotten, either, two figures of strangers straying amongst the low hillocks and reading the mementoes graven on the few mossy head-stones.

From Literature

They even introduced a blemish into the carving to address our concerns with the biblical injunction against graven images.

From Washington Post

There are also frequent views of Stibbert’s notable collection of Japanese arms and armor — among the first in the West — such as a 15th-century tanto, or samurai sword, whose blade is graven with watery calligraphy.

From New York Times

Straight on the panicked horse galloped, past the milestone lodged in the earth at the roadside, heedless of the letters graven in the stone: “Redwall Abbey, fifteen miles.”

From Literature