Schwere

Schwere is a German noun (feminine) that denotes heaviness or weight, referring to the physical property of an object to resist movement or lifting. It is also used figuratively to express gravity, seriousness, or severity, as in phrases about a situation or a feeling.

In everyday language, Schwere can describe how heavy something feels or how substantial a substance is. It also appears in abstract senses, such as the gravity or seriousness of a matter. Phrases like die Schwere der Lage (the gravity of the situation) or mit großer Schwere (with great gravity/seriousness) illustrate its figurative use. In medical or legal contexts, Schwere can indicate severity, for example: die Schwere einer Erkrankung (the severity of an illness) or die Schwere eines Verstoßes (the gravity of a violation).

In physics and related technical fields, the term Schwere is less common in modern German. The standard terms are Gewicht for weight and Schwerkraft for gravity. Historically or in certain literary contexts, Schwere may appear to denote weight or gravitational force, but contemporary scientific writing usually prefers Gewicht and Schwerkraft.

Etymology traces Schwere to the adjective schwer, meaning heavy, with nominalization by the suffix -e. The word is attested in Middle High German and has cognates in other West Germanic languages, reflecting its long-standing association with physical heaviness and gravity as well as metaphorical weight of concepts. See also Gewicht, Schwerkraft, and Schweregrad, which share roots related to weight, severity, and measurement.