Gravitas

[Fred Shapiro]

On Wed, 26 Jul 2000, Laurence Horn wrote:

> I wonder, though, when the term began to be used for a character
> trait in modern individuals rather than ancient cultures and their
> embodiment.  Three of the four cites in the Cornell Making of America

The OED has an 1958 citation in a modern context.  Here is a 1950 one from
JSTOR:

1950 _Journal of Politics_ XII. 211  Both majority and minority subscribe
to a common reason and _gravitas_ which is the basis of a constitutional
playground.


Fred R. Shapiro                             Coeditor (with Jane Garry)
Associate Librarian for Public Services     TRIAL AND ERROR: AN OXFORD
  and Lecturer in Legal Research            ANTHOLOGY OF LEGAL STORIES
Yale Law School                             Oxford University Press, 1998
e-mail: fred.shapiro at yale.edu               ISBN 0-19-509547-2